


The Only Hope For Me Is You

by myrmidonqueen



Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: Alternate Universe, Battery City, Better Living Industries, Blood and Violence, Character Death, Danger Days Era, Emotional Manipulation, Eventual Romance, Flashbacks, M/M, Major character backstory flashbacks, Slow Burn, Villain Ray Toro, sort of enemies to lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-10
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:14:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 20
Words: 49,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21738928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myrmidonqueen/pseuds/myrmidonqueen
Summary: Mikey was in the doorway, looking at Frank with a mix of both worry and relief.“Oh, good, you’re not dead.”Frank smiled in spite of the pain. “Kinda wish I was, but yeah, good and alive.”“Dude, don’t say that. I was really worried all day.”Before Frank had time to respond, Gerard was next to Mikey, crossing his arms over his chest. He stared at Frank quizzically.“Rest well?” he asked.Frank glared at Gerard defiantly. “Not at all, but thanks for asking,” he responded sarcastically.Gerard narrowed his eyes at him. “Careful, Frank. Don’t forget who it is you’re talking to.”
Relationships: Frank Iero/Gerard Way
Comments: 37
Kudos: 48





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This story is set in the Danger Days era but the guys are not their Killjoy alter egos. I just thought the setting would be really fun to use.

#  PROLOGUE 

“Mom, I really don’t think this is a good idea,” Frank said, all too aware of how the worry in his voice made it crack.

Frank’s mother hushed him as she stared ahead at the glittering cityscape with wide, unblinking eyes. He shifted his weight uncomfortably as he nervously glanced at the same scene that his mother was taking in. When Frank snuck a look at his father, he saw that the man had the same wide-eyed expression as he focused in on the sight of the skyline before them.

It had taken the family so long to have gotten to where they now stood. A year ago, they had packed meager belongings into backpacks and closed the door on their lives in Dawn Bay. Destructive hurricanes and earthquakes had been wracking the city for years, destroying streets, buildings, homes, and lives. That was when the radio transmissions from the faraway Battery City had begun to seep into their channels.

“Battery City, where the weather is always pristine!”

“Battery City, where nobody goes hungry!”

“Battery City, where everyone has a home and clothes on their backs!”

The commercials were followed by upbeat jingles that always sounded promising, even when the static distorted the sound.

“Let Better Living Industries give you the life you’ve always dreamed of! Battery City, and better living, awaits your arrival!”

Something about those commercials had always sent a chill down Frank’s spine. But when the living conditions in Dawn Bay became too much to bear, when all their neighbours had abandoned their homes in search of better lives, he and his family had no choice but to follow suit. And after hearing all the wonderful-sounding commercials about what Better Living Industries and Battery City could offer them, how could they have chosen another option?

Standing now right on the edge of the city, close enough to hear the faint sounds of midday traffic, Frank found that his feet would not move him any further. Every bone in his body was screaming at him to stay put.

For months, all he had heard his parents discuss was how wonderful Better Living Industries was, how they would fix their lives, how they would kiss the feet of the men who worked there for providing so much for so many. They would be walking through the desert zones, having not had a sip of water in over almost two days, and all his parents would babble on about was Better Living Industries this and that while Frank tried not to simply collapse and die where he stood on the dry sand. If it hadn’t been for him keeping them on track and reminding them that they had to find some source of water, or some rodents for dinner, they surely would have died not long after leaving Dawn Bay. It made Frank uneasy how his parents could speak of nothing other than how Better Living Industries was going to change their lives forever.

But he had a bad feeling. And that bad feeling wouldn’t let him take another step towards the towering skyscrapers, no matter how hungry and thirsty he was.

Frank’s mother finally broke her trance and grabbed onto Frank’s arm, squeezing excitedly.

“Oh Frankie, we made it! We’re finally here! Better Living Industries is only a few steps away!” Her windswept hair frosted with sand and dirt did nothing to offset her wild eyes. Frank recoiled as that familiar sense of despair crept into his gut.

“Mom, I...I’m not going.”

His mother dropped his arm as if his skin had burned her. Her expression changed from mad excitement to utter bewilderment.

Frank’s father whipped around to face him. “Frank, you are coming with us. We’ll have our new start in Battery City. Better Living Industries will make everything better for us!”

Frank swallowed. He had already made up his mind a few nights ago. He remembered it vividly. Sitting by the fire, unable to sleep as his parents dozed on their backpacks. He remembered the static crackling through their transportable radio that they had brought from home. He remembered the voice that came through and startled him. He remembered his fingertips going numb as the words sunk in.

He planted his feet firmly, unwilling to budge.

“Listen. I told you this is a bad idea. I don’t think Better Living Industries is as great and wonderful as you think they are.”

“Of course they are, Frankie! They’re going to fix everything! They’re going to save us!”

“I’m not going! I’m going to try to find my way home. And you need to come with me.”

“But Frank...the commercials. They said everything would be perfect and it will be.”

“You c

“I don’t think you should go to Battery City but if that’s really what you want, I...won’t try to stop you.” Frank cursed himself as he felt the tears begin to well up in his eyes.

His father barked out a laugh.

“You’re damn right we’re going, son. We travelled all this damn way to escape that hellhole of a city we called home. 

This is home now. 

Our new home.” His father glared at him, causing Frank’s tears to begin spilling over.

“We’re going, Frankie.”

His mother barely looked at him as she began to close the distance between themselves and Battery City. She was too far gone, as was his father, to even realize that they were leaving their only son behind to fend for himself in the desert. Still, Frank felt a pain in his chest that he had never once felt before. A muffled sob escaped his lips as he stretched his hands out towards his parents’ shrinking silhouettes. They were too far away to hear when that muffled sob turned into a strangled cry of anguish.

“COME BACK! PLEASE!”

But there was no reply except for the howl of the desert winds.

Frank fell to his knees and stared off towards the giant steel towers intercepting the shape of the setting sun. He had no idea how long he had been sitting there, willing them to turn around and make a new journey with him. He was exhausted. He was thirsty. More than anything, he was afraid. But he wouldn’t give in. He didn’t trust a single word that came from the static waves of Better Living Industries.

He knew he had to begin walking back. Who knew how he was going to survive. Who knew if he would even make it to begin with. As he trudged in dead silence back the way that they had come, the radio broadcast from a few nights ago, like a spark of a flame on a cold dark night, played over in his head.

“Hello children. Dr. Death Defying here for all you listeners who can’t seem to get to sleep. Here are some words of wisdom, just in case the words of some evil megacorporation have somehow creeped into your brain: a dark cloud hangs over Battery City, black and smoky, hiding its true face. End up in their clutches and you’ll be dusted into nothingness before you even have the chance to scream. Better Living Industries wants what’s best, of course - for themselves anyway, not you poor suckers. Stay away as long as you can, and you might just live another day.”


	2. CHAPTER 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had this chapter already written out and was debating if I should post it right after the prologue and decided I was too excited to wait so here it is! From now on, I'll be posting chapters more so on a weekly basis :)

# CHAPTER 1

The howl of the desert wind and the subsequent spray of sand to his face woke Frank from his deep sleep. With his eyes still shut tight, he coughed fiercely, attempting to rid his lungs from the dry, grainy intrusion. He had fallen asleep in yet another isolated cave somewhere far into the dusty beige wasteland, but the overhead crag did little to shield him from the late morning sun beating down on him from overhead. He could already hear the sounds of the heat rising up from the endless stretches of sand that lay before him.

Standing up shakily and dusting off his lap, Frank squinted into the brightness of the new day. His instincts screamed at him to find a source of freshwater, and fast. All too aware of his painfully parched mouth, he sighed in frustration. He wouldn’t be able to cover a very far distance to find a new source of water, which meant he would have to go back the way he came from yesterday, where he knew there was a valley where he could dig for water. He would lose all the progress he made up until now, but his choices were limited.

He tied a piece of ripped fabric across his forehead, the makeshift turban that he used to fend off the agonizingly strong rays of sun. It was still damp with yesterday’s sweat.

As he took his first steps away the cave that he had called home from the night, Frank mentally tallied up how much ground he far he would be able to get today before having to stop for the night again. He had no idea what time it was, but the strength of the heat emanating from the sun indicated that it was at least late into the morning. It was a later start than he would have liked to get considering how much ground he needed to cover but he didn’t have the mental energy to dwell on it for too long.

A sigh of relief escaped his lips as he saw the shadows created by the walls of the valley come into view. He fought the urge to sprint towards shaded area knowing that his body couldn’t possibly handle the endeavour right now. Walking briskly over to a familiar bunch of cacti and small trees that he had retrieved the water next to yesterday, Frank knelt down and began hastily digging a hole into the sand with a rock that he had found nearby.

At the sight of a small pool of water appearing in the hole in a few minutes left, Frank felt almost sick with relief. His entire body screamed at him to start drinking immediately but he waited until a sufficient puddle had accumulated in order to satisfy his thirst. He cupped his hands and greedily scooped as much water as he could into his parched mouth, making extra careful not to let any of the precious liquid dribble off the sides of his chapped lips.

When he was satisfied, he stood up, feeling the fog in his head clearing up ever so slightly. The exhaustion from last night’s lack of sleep, however, still lingered. Clenching his fists with determination, Frank vowed not to settle down for his midday nap until he felt that he had trekked an acceptable amount of distance. And he knew he had better get moving if he was going to accomplish that, since his quest for water had already set him back some time.

Before continuing on, Frank swapped out the old, dying batteries in his radio for the ones he had scavenged a few months - he guessed - ago from the ruins of what appeared to be an abandoned small town in the desert. Truthfully, it would have been hard to get by without his radio and without the few other small items he had managed to salvage: a pocket knife, a book of matches, a small compass, batteries and a flashlight. He didn’t dare take anything more for fear of weighing himself down. No, only the necessities for survival that he could get his hands on. He hugged himself protectively despite the fact that he hadn’t seen another living soul since his parents.

The dial on the radio was always turned to the same channel, the only one whose frequency reached this far out into the desert zones - Dr. Death Defying’s channel. Sometimes all it emitted was static, but Frank was hopeful that today he would hear the familiar voice accompanying him on his journey. He punched the power button and was disheartened to hear only the fuzzy sounds of static emanating through the worn speakers. He sighed again and pointed his compass until it was directing him north, the way to his hopeful salvation. The cave drawings and words that he had seen on the rock wall of his sleeping place some time ago hinted at a rebel base northward. He imagined some other lonely traveller, maybe even a rebel themselves, had marked it. Or maybe it was a trap set in place by Better Living Industries to pick off dissenters. But he felt confident in betting on the positive outcome. Frank didn’t know how far away it was or how long it would take him to get there, but he felt drawn to his potentially nonexistent place. What other options did he have, after all?

The sound of the static accompanied him for what felt like hours as the sun crept higher in the sky with each passing minute. Frank knew he was going to have to stop soon. He was getting thirsty again and was frantically looking around for either a cave or a patch of vegetation - maybe he’d get lucky enough and find both near each other. But whichever came first, he knew he would have to stop either to quench his ever-present thirst, or sleep long enough to forget about it.

He saw the overhead wall of a cave begin to appear over the horizon and Frank made a sound of both relief and frustration. His eyelids were beginning to feel heavy with sleep but he could have really used some more water.

He approached the cave, already feeling the inviting air from the shaded, cool area. He switched off his radio, wanting to keep listening for a voice but also knowing he needed to preserve the batteries he had just put in. He was already beginning to run low and didn’t know when he’d be lucky enough to happen upon some desert ruins again, if ever.

With that disheartening thought in his mind, Frank laid his head down on his sandy backpack and attempted to sleep in the cool shade of yet another cave.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gerard didn’t like patrolling. It was his least favourite part of the day. The heat didn’t bother him so much. No, it was having to spend hours on end with Ray’s gang of soldiers that really got to him. When they weren’t hungrily hanging onto Ray’s every word and command, they acted as an infuriating background track of whispers and snickers that made his skin crawl with annoyance. He knew they envied his position. He knew their attempts at frazzling him were to try and make him snap. He would have been flattered if his exasperation with them ceased to take over.

Snapping the last buckle on his combat boots, Gerard stood up and adjusted the laser gun that was sitting comfortably in the holster on his hip. He splashed a bit of cold water on his face before turning around and exiting his underground room. He had been in the grand foyer for only a few seconds when Ray’s booming voice beckoned him over.

“Gerard, make sure you and the men are extra vigilant today. I’ve been having dreams recently of our base being infiltrated by rebels that take us down from the inside.” Ray glared at Gerard with his one good eye, sitting high up on his steel chair that commanded the attention of everyone who stepped foot into the foyer.

“Of course, sir. We’ll remain vigilant as always.”

“And make sure everyone takes their damn water canisters with them this time. If I have to have another horde returning early whining about their thirst, there’s going to be hell to pay.”

“I’ll make sure to verify with each and every one of them before we even step foot outside.”

“Very well. Now go. Stop wasting time.”

Gerard gave a short nod and headed off down a maze of torch-lit corridors before reaching the barracks where the patrolling men would be waiting for him. He pulled his mask down over his eyes before pushing down the handle. He scowled at the soldiers as they turned to face him, reminding them all that he was the one in charge of them for these precious few hours.

“Everyone make sure you have your canisters on you. If anyone returns early, Commander Ray is going to raise hell on all of us.”

There was a brief scuffle as the men all checked their belts to ensure their water was secured safely to their belts. When Gerard was satisfied that everyone had checked, he pushed down on the large red button next to the towering wooden doors that separated the barracks from the outside world. Once outside, he followed the usual protocol. He divided the men into groups of 5 and assigned them their respective patrol areas. Their zone stretched out for miles, and the terrain needed to be adequately covered. He obviously couldn’t keep an eye on everyone this way, but Gerard knew that the soldiers’ fear of Ray’s fury would keep them in line regardless.

He gave the signal to begin patrol and the soldiers scattered, looking like weapon-laden ants the further scattered from him. Gerard turned to the people in his group and gave them the signal to begin following him around their established perimeter.

The wind was blowing more fiercely today than it had yesterday, sending sand and tiny rocks blowing across the terrain. The soldiers pulled their bandanas tightly across their mouths and quickly snapped their goggles on to protect their eyes from the onslaught. Gerard saw a cave up ahead that he recognized from continuous years of patrolling the same areas over and over. He signalled to the men behind him to follow him in that direction. Many of the prisoners that they had captured had been found in caves and Gerard knew it was always a fruitful place to start. There weren’t many places to hide otherwise.

They staggered towards the mouth of the giant rock covering, the desert debris still whipping across their faces. As the cave became clearer the closer they got, Gerard noticed what looked to be a head of messy, dark hair peeking out from the cave’s entrance. He sucked in a breath of anticipation as they approached.  
The wind seemed to be calmer here, as the mass of rock blocked out the majority of the sandy blast. Gerard felt comfortable raising his mask off his face to have a better look at the person in the cave. Despite the horrific weather outside, the man that they saw was fast asleep. He had a radio next to his head that was resting on a decrepit-looking backpack. His chest was rising and falling slowly, his body apparently not alerting him to the fact that a large horde of people had just surrounded him. Gerard almost felt bad as he knelt down to grab the man by the arm and jostled him awake. He already had his hand at his belt to pull out the chains that he was going to use to apprehend their new prisoner.

The dark-haired man yelped in surprise as he was pulled to his feet and quickly had the chains clamped down on his wrists. He almost fell over with the suddenness of his awakening but Gerard held him firm and steady.

“Come on, let’s get you to the base.”

The other’s mouth hung upon in complete disbelief and all he could do was sputter as Gerard led him away.

“Keep patrolling the perimeter. Mark and Dan, come with me to bring him to Ray.”

“Wait! M-my radio!,” as he stretched his arm desperately in the direction we had just come. He kept flicking his head back from my face to the cave where he had been peacefully sleeping not five minutes ago. His hazel eyes were filled with absolute terror and he hardly struggled at all as he was pulled by his upper arms away from the desert, too shocked to move too much.

They had reached the massive wooden doors leading to the barracks and the man finally began to whimper as the doors groaned in opening.

“What’s going on?! Who are you?! Where am I?!” He repeated these questions over and over again even though neither of the men who had him in a death grip acknowledged his words. Gerard knew Ray was going to be pleased with their capture of the day, even though he himself would have rather left him alone to wander. It’s what he wished every time they brought in a stunned person to this strange new place that they had no idea existed. But he had a job to do, and he wasn’t about to start disobeying orders now. Not after everything Ray had done for him.

As he suspected, a large smile snaked across Ray’s face as Gerard, Mike and Dan dragged the writhing, struggling man into the foyer. He had snapped out of his shock and was now fighting back against the hands that were restraining him. He was rather small, so he was no match for the other three men. An almost hungry look crossed Ray’s face, his one exposed eye glinting excitedly.

“Well, what do we have here now?”

“We found him sleeping in a cave about 2 miles southeast, Commander.”

“Step forward. State your name”

Gerard pushed the man forward as he struggled to maintain his composure. He was shaking so hard that Gerard was sure he was going to collapse in a trembling heap on the floor. Ray had asked him a question but stood there, mouth agape and eyes darting around, taking in his surroundings.

“Your NAME, boy!” Ray’s voice boomed. Even Gerard flinched back at the sound.

“F-Frank,” he managed to choke out barely above a whisper.

“LOUDER!”

“It’s...Frank.”

“Better. Good. Now Frank, do you know why you’re here?”

“N-no.”

He gestured behind Frank to where Gerard, Mark and Dan were standing silently. “My men picked you up because you are on my territory. This zone is my zone, entrusted to me by some very powerful people who would be rather upset if they find out that I’m simply letting lonely travellers waltz in and out of my territory as they please. Isn’t that right, men?”

Gerard and the others nodded gruffly.

“I-I really didn’t know-”

“I'm not done talking. You will show me some respect, as your new commander.” Ray clicked his tongue and shook his head.

“Please,” Frank begged. “I didn’t know where I was. I really had no idea. I’m just trying- I didn’t mean anything-”

“I said, SILENCE. One more word out of you that I didn’t ask for and it'll be your last.”

At that, Frank shut his mouth tightly.

Ray snapped a glove finger. “Gerard, kindly show Frank to his new home please. And get him a change of clothes.”

“Yes, sir.”

Gerard left the room and returned shortly with a bundle of drabby-looking clothes in his arms. He took Frank by the arm again, but he wasn’t done pleading just yet.

“Please, sir-”

“Frank, do not make me have to show you what your other option is. It’s the chamber or the blade.”

Frank let out a strangled cry as Gerard led him away from the foyer and towards another corridor. “Come on. It’s time to go.”

To go where, Frank didn’t know. But the cackling that came from Ray’s mouth as he was pulled further away made him wonder if the blade would have been a kinder option.


	3. CHAPTER 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm in the midst of writing another chapter at the moment so I figured I'd update :)

# CHAPTER 2

Frank was completely catatonic as the men in the chamber barked at him and the other captives to wake up. Even when a laser gun was shoved threateningly in his face, the face behind it spewing spit as he screamed for Frank to get up, it hardly sounded like anything more than a buzz in his ears. The shock still hadn’t quite worn off and his brain turned fuzzy as it attempted to instill a coping mechanism for the situation he had found himself in.

He had his hands fisted under the flat pillow that he rested his head on, jaw clenched so tightly that he felt like his teeth would shatter at any moment. As the armed man continued to scream at him, Frank saw the shape of another person come into his peripheral view. The person had a scowl on his sharp face, enhancing the angular lines of his face.

“Get the hell up, dude, come on.”

He felt himself being hoisted up, the new person’s face replacing the reddened, angry one that had been there moments ago. Once his feet were planted on the ground, Frank suddenly began to register his surroundings once again and his breathing quickened, the sheer panic settling heavily in his gut. He fought to keep the hyperventilation at bay, trying to focus on the concerned face in front of him.

“Hey man, we gotta go. You don’t wanna make these guys angry or you’re gonna be screwed.”

“Go? G-go where?”  
The face in front of him scrunched up. “The mines, man. Work. The whole damn reason we’re here.” He looked almost apologetic.

Frank’s mind once again went blank to cope with the stress that was constricting his breathing, but allowed himself to be led away by this person. He had a hat placed on his head and he soon found himself standing outside in the blazing heat and blinding sun, surrounded by other exhausted-looking people in the same boring shirt and pants that he was in, and men wearing sunglasses and grazing the laser guns that were tucked into their holsters. All of Frank’s instincts screamed at him to run, but his feet were like cinder blocks. The person who had spoken to him this morning stood closely at his side, seeming to keep an eye on him.

“Alright, let’s go! Everyone, grab a pickaxe and let’s move,” one of the sunglassed men growled at them.

And then they were moving. Frank didn’t have an inkling of an idea of where they were going or what he was supposed to be doing, but the firm hand on his back guided him forward and he didn’t dare step out of line. The panic still weighed down on him like a stone but he at least began to feel his head clearing and knew that whatever he did, he had to remain in this line.

They walked a few miles before reaching the towering entrance of a mine, a massive opening that looked like a giant’s mouth about to swallow them whole. From his vantage point, Frank could see that the walls were lined with lit torches, only emanating light around the small space above-ground before giving way to darkness. His breath was ragged as he hoped to whatever higher power may exist that there were more torches beyond the point where they could see.

“Move it along! We don’t have all damn day!” More orders were barked as Frank and the other line of people snaked their way down further into the mine. The dust stung his eyes and the smell of old dirt and metal filled his nostrils. 

He gasped as he pushed forcefully forward, landing inside a cart and scraping up his hands on the splintery wooden surface. Groaning and shaking, he pulled his knees up to his chest and waited to end up wherever this horrible journey underground was going to take him. He was relieved to find that the same man who had been his shadow since leaving their sleeping quarters was still next to him.

The cart screeched to a halt and Frank was yanked out of his crouched position. A hard hat and a pair of gloves were pushed into his hands by another one of the armed men in sunglasses. He couldn’t tell if he was the same one who had been hollering in his face that morning.

“Get to work.”

Doing what? Frank mouth gaped open and closed as he struggled with whether or not he should ask questions or resign himself to doing something at least get the intimidating soldiers’ eyes off of him.

Someone cleared their throat loudly somewhere to his left and he glanced up to see his new friend motioning towards him with his head. Frank stalked over, confused but mildly grateful that he had someone who was keeping an eye on him.

“Put the hat and gloves on and just axe the shit out of the wall,” the stranger whispered literally out of the corner of his mouth. Frank barely heard him over the sounds of scraping and axing and yelling that filled the small underground space, but he mimicked the actions of the guy next to him and hoped no one would catch onto the fact that he obviously had no idea what he was doing.

The guy next to him turned his face hesitantly. “I’m Mikey, by the way.”

“Frank. Pleasure.”

Mikey nodded.

“What are we doing down here?”

“Shhhhhh,” Mikey hushed him angrily, peering over his shoulder to make sure none of the armed men were paying attention to them. “Mining for uranium. Now hush. You’re gonna get us both in trouble.”

Frank made a sound of complete disbelief. Uranium? What the hell for?

He gawked at Mikey who had now turned away from him, indicating that their conversation was over. He was axing the wall in front of him with expert swipes, a handkerchief pulled up over his face to shield him from the ungodly amount of fumes and debris they must have been inhaling. Frank looked down at the pickaxe in his gloved hands. He had never used one before in his life. He figured he would mimic the people around him and hope their guards were convinced that he had a clue what he was doing. 

Whenever he saw someone observing something in their hand, he would sneak a look and make a mental note to watch out for anything that looked like those things. At one point, Mikey caught his attention by hissing at him and showed him the mass of rock that was in his hands, indicating that was what he should be on the hunt for. Frank nodded quickly, silently thanking Mikey in his head over and over. When he extracted a piece of a similar looking rock, he hesitantly placed it in the bucket that lay at his feet.

Frank had started to become dizzy from the fume inhalation and had to steady himself on the wall in front of him. A soldier behind him barked at him to keep moving but Frank’s vision had begun to swim.

“Please, I...I’m breathing in too many fumes. I’m really light-headed.”

The men grumbled slightly and fished out a piece of fabric from his chest pocket and shoved it at Frank. It was barely enough to wrap around is face but it was better than nothing.

“I really need some water. I think I’m getting really dehydrated...”

“You have ten minutes left and then we’re going back. Suck it up. Should have remembered to bring your canister.”

With that, the man turned his back on Frank and went over to shout at someone else. He saw Mikey look over at him with a pitying glance but didn’t offer him anything. Frank sighed, fighting off tears of frustration.

Ten minutes later, his broken body hit the wooden planks of the mine cart again and Frank struggled to keep his eyes open. He was dizzy and he was thirsty and he was sore in places he didn’t think could ever be sore. He was afraid that he wouldn’t survive the walk back to the chambers, but the sun had already begun to sink over the horizon and a nice breeze had picked up, willing him to put one foot in front of the other until the gang of people stumbled through the doors of the base once again.

Frank collapsed on top of his squeaky bed, completely unperturbed by the fact that he had now stained his sheets with grimy sweat and dirt. He didn’t have any energy left to car about such miniscule things. All he cared about was getting his head to stop spinning and to get his breathing back to a normal pace.

He felt the right side of his bed sink down as someone placed their body next to his head.

“Here. Drink.”

His eyelids fluttered open as Mikey’s concerned face came into focus. He was forcing a large cup of water towards Frank’s mouth before he had even sat up. When he didn’t move an inch, Mikey grabbed his shoulders, forcing him upright and shoved towards him. As soon as the liquid passed through his chapped lips, Frank’s eyes rolled back into his head in ecstasy.

“Thank you,” Frank croaked, wiping the few escaped drops of water from his face. He looked up at Mikey’s face, taking in his features now that he was able to actually see him clearly. He still had dirt smudged around his eyes, but they were kind and held that same air of concern that Frank had seen directed at him all day. He felt inclined to ask Mikey about what the hell was going on but he was clueless as to where he even wanted to start, he had so many. As if sensing this, Mikey smirked at him sadly and punched him lightly on the shoulder.

“Don’t sweat it. You’ll get used to it. Expect much of the same tomorrow.” Mikey made a move to get up and leave but Frank held onto his arm, pleading with his eyes for more answers. Something. Anything.

Mikey hesitated for a brief moment but ultimately lowered himself back down onto Frank’s bed.

“Why am I here?” Frank asked quietly. “Why are any of us here? I just...one minute I was sleeping and then next I was being dragged across the desert by strangers with no explanation. Some guy with an eyepatch said a bunch of things to me but I was so out of it I hardly remember a word.”

Mikey gave Frank a wary, pitying look. “Okay first of all, the guy with eyepatch is Ray and you shouldn’t ever address him unless he speaks to you first. Also, never refer to him as the guy with the eyepatch ever again. Or as Ray, for that matter. God knows what your punishment would be for that.”

Frank continued to stare at Mikey, his eyes urging Mikey on. Mikey sighed.

“Did you meet the guy with the bright red hair?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s Gerard. Ray’s right hand man, I guess you could call him. Though, he hardly gets any of the respect that comes with the title.” Mikey’s eyes were hard when he said that. “They’re really the only ones anyone here knows by name, other than a few of the guards I guess. Mark, Dan, William, a few others…”

“How long have you been in this place?”

“If I’ve been keeping track correct which I don’t really think I have...about a year and a half. Something like that.”

“And you mine, and…”

Mikey shrugged. “That’s pretty much it. We get woken up, mine as much as we need to, come back and hang out, then do it all again the next day.” He said it so nonchalantly that it made Frank’s head spin.

“That’s...that’s it? What’s with the mining? Why do we have to do it?”

“Look man, I don’t know much. All I know is that once a month this group of scary-looking people come in, take all the stuff we’ve dug up and depending on if they’re pleased or not, we either get praised or yelled at by Ray. It’s just what it is,” Mikey finished, shifting uncomfortably.

“But who are these people?”

A soldier grunted loudly somewhere behind Frank. Mikey looked alarmed and got up awkwardly.

“Listen, I’ll see you at dinner okay? Everything is gonna be fine just...try not to think about it too much. Maybe get some rest while you can.” And with that, Mikey sauntered off to a bed on the opposite side of Frank and laid down on his side.

Frank didn’t think it was possible but he somehow felt even more lost than he had been that morning. He laid down and pressed his palms to his eyes, trying to slow down the mad tornado of thoughts that had begun to bang around his skull. He had no idea what any of this meant. But there was a small flicker of hope - maybe he had found a friend, an ally. He continued to lie there, hands over his face, until he heard a banging noise. He bolted upright and his chest tightened at the sight of the bright red-haired man - Gerard - standing in the large doorway of the chambers with his arms folded across his chest.

“Dinner’s in five minutes. Hope you’re all hungry.”

Frank swallowed. Getting his appetite back in a place like this was going to be impossible. He looked around frantically, waiting for someone else to make a move so he could follow suit. People began lining up at the door in front of Gerard and Frank quickly scrambled to do the same, falling into place behind Mikey.

He couldn’t afford to get on anyone’s bad side today, fears be damned.


	4. CHAPTER 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's a little shorter but I was eager to post today :)

#  CHAPTER 3 

“The workers are all having dinner, sir. We made sure to do a headcount,” Gerard stated, standing in front of Ray’s imposing throne with his hands clasped in front of him. He could already tell based on Ray’s expression that he was not happy. His mouth was in a tight line, chin resting in his hand as he stared off into the distance above Gerard’s head.

“Hm.”

Gerard stood there patiently waiting for whatever was coming next. He knew Ray wasn’t going to be fully satisfied just hearing Gerard’s statement and letting him walk off.

What felt like 10 minutes later, Ray sighed.

“Gerard, what is it that you’re good for here?”

A slight pang of panic rose in Gerard’s chest. “I-”

“Because it’s been over two weeks and all you’ve brought me is that scrawny kid back there to work the mines.”

“Frank.”

“Right. Frank. Where is the manpower we need to keep this operation going, hm?”

“Sir, with all due respect, there aren’t many people out there just wandering the desert zones, especially not at our scheduled patrol times.”

Ray slammed his fist hard down on the arm of his chair, making Gerard flinch back. He knew he shouldn’t have spoken out of turn like that but really, what else was there to say?

“They’ll be here in a little over a week. And what do we have to show for it? The same amount of uranium that we gave them last time, a little less even? If they give me shit, it’s on you. I’m not to blame for not having a sufficient amount of people to meet their requirements. What do we need to do? Do we need to extend patrol hours?”

“If you believe that’s what best, but…”

“But what?” Ray questioned, his tone daring Gerard to defy him.

“I don’t know if the other men would be too thrilled.”

Ray scoffed. “As if what they want is of any concern to me. They know what’s at stake. In fact, I think they would be happy to do it if it they knew what the consequences would be otherwise. Don’t you?” Ray raised his eyebrows at Gerard, and he knew that meant that he would have to be the one to break the news. He clenched his fists at his sides, already anticipating the shit he was going to get for this.

“Understood, sir.”

“Good. Now go, stop wasting my time.”

Gerard nodded curtly and headed to his room before going to the dinner hall where he would have to keep a watchful eye on Ray’s prisoners. Inevitably, he would also need to break the news of the new patrol protocol to the rest of the soldiers and he needed a minute to gather his nerve before that mess broke out.

Gerard was incredibly grateful for the fact that he had his own quarters in the basement where no one bothered him. It gave him the freedom to lash out a bit on particularly bad days of dealing with Ray and his loyal mercenaries. Days like today.

He felt the dread boiling inside of him and by the time he reached his quarters, he was just about bursting at the seams with awful feelings of frustration. He let out a growl and threw his fist against the stone wal, the sharp pain immediately engulfing his knuckles and travelling down to his wrist. A cry escaped his lips as the anger and the pain mixed together, hot tears pooling under his eyelids. Gerard fell to his knees and let his head fall, unable to find the motivation to get up and face his responsibilities. He knew he couldn’t wallow for much longer or Ray would find out and give him more grief just for the fun of it.

Hoisting himself up and still clutching his aching hand, Gerard dragged himself to the mirror in his bathroom, staring at his reflection. His eyes were rimmed red, jaw clenched tightly. He looked so incredibly tired. How long had it been since he had gotten a good night’s sleep? When was the last time he wasn’t being weighed down by feelings of dread and anxiety? He never asked for this. This isn’t how his life was supposed to have panned out. But he also would have been dead otherwise and honestly, Gerard wasn’t sure which he would prefer if you were to ask him right this minute.

He sighed shakily, splashing cold water on his face and considering his reflection again for a moment. He shook his head and pulled his shoulders back, trying to at least communicate some air of confidence with his body language, if nothing else. He still had a job to do, no matter how much the thought of heading into that dining room sent a shiver of nausea through his stomach.

Giving himself one last final look, Gerard headed up the stairs, taking a back hallway so he didn’t have to cross paths with Ray again. He wouldn’t be able to handle another confrontation with him in his current mental state.

Murmurs of conversation flooded his ears as he pushed open the heavy wooden doors leaning into the workers’ dining room. He frowned as he cast his eyes over the crowd. As much as he hated to admit it, Ray was right. The group was looking a little bit thin. They hadn’t had many pickups in the last few weeks but who could blame them? The chances of catching a multitude of people this far out into the desert was determined by dumb luck and nothing else. You had to be in the right place at the right time and that adding onto the slim chances of having people out in the desert in the first place. They were lucky they had as many people as they did. But Ray didn’t see it that way and whatever Ray wanted is what he got. There were no other options.

As he scanned the room, trying to look imposing, Gerard locked eyes with Mikey. He was sitting with the new guy, Frank, who looked worn down to his bones as he eyed the food in front of him, picking at it with his fork. Mikey seemed to be whispering something to him, words of comfort maybe. Gerard raised his eyes at Mikey who shrugged at him, a helpless look on his face. He clearly had no idea what to do with Frank who hadn’t even seemed to notice that Gerard had even walked into the room.

Gerard and Mikey considered themselves close, as close as they could get without any of the other soldiers or Ray noticing. Gerard had often kept him company when Mikey had accidentally injured himself in the mines, or if his feisty personality got him locked up in solitary confinement for a few days. Luckily for Gerard, solitary was only a mere few hallways down from his quarters and no one really bothered to check in with the people kept there unless Ray specifically ordered it, which wasn’t often. As imposing and threatening as he wanted himself to seem, Ray was often too absorbed in his own self-image that he forgot he actually had a base to run and people to keep tabs on.

Mikey looked away from Gerard quickly, knowing that he could get him in trouble if anyone noticed them having their silent conversation across the room. Gerard sighed and forced himself to walk toward the gaggle of men standing at the front of the dining hall.

“I need to see you all in the barracks in five. Page the others, let them know.”

One of the men grunted at Gerard, as much as he expected. He rolled his eyes and turned on his heel, trying to walk with an air of confidence that would hide the anxiety he was truly feeling. A couple of slaps on his face and he felt like he could potentially get through this.

Gerard really hated having to deliver news of any kind to Ray’s men. He knew that they didn’t take him seriously. They looked down on him, believed he didn’t deserve to have the position that he did. Well, maybe they were right. But what did that matter anyway? Gerard didn’t want his spot next to Ray, but it was the only thing that has kept him alive for the last few years. He supposed it was something to be grateful for. Right?

He stood tall at the front of the barracks, watching the armed soldiers filing in one after the other. Many of them stood with their arms crossed, tapping their feet, as if annoyed that Gerard was wasting their precious time.

“Alright, I’m going to make this quick so we can all get back to work. Commander Ray has decided that we need to increase patrol and surveillance. We’ll be doing nightly checks from now on in addition to our morning. Once I figure out the details of the time and rotations, I will get back to you. That will be all.”

Gerard hardly stayed behind long enough to hear the shocked and angry hollers surrounding him.

“Are you serious? Is this for real?”

“We already hardly get any time to do anything else as it is!”  
“How are we supposed to see people in the dark?”

“This is going to fuck up everyone’s schedules!”

“Well, we’re in the shits now. Thanks a lot Gerard!”

He refused to hear any of it. These orders were not his and he was not going to take the blame. He hated that Ray constantly made him the scapegoat, made the men deflect their anger towards him so that Ray could stay in his damn throne, lounging without a care in the world. The men respected him no matter what, of course they did. Gerard was the bad guy and that was that. They hated it him because they wanted to be him, and they hated him because he was the messenger for all of Ray’s bad news. It was a deadly combination. Normally, Gerard would squash those feelings down and go about his day. He couldn’t do anything about it anyway. He just had to keep his chin up and do what was told of him.

But not today. Today he was going to allow himself to feel it. He was a rickety dam being pushed upon by a tidal wave and the flood was coming.

As soon as he got back down to his quarters, Gerard put his face in his hands and released the tears from their prison inside of him.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our first major character backstory: Gerard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to update this before Christmas as I know it's going to be a busy week for me and I really wanted to get this chapter out while it's still fresh in my mind.
> 
> Happy holidays everyone :)

# CHAPTER 4: GERARD

Gerard’s right eye creaked open as the rising sun began to appear on the horizon. He felt a wisp of soft sand graze his cheek as a breeze began to blow. For a brief moment, there was nothing but silence and warmth and forgetfulness. He didn’t remember where he was. The only sensation was air on his face, sun beginning to warm his skin, and sand between his fingers. Then it was over as a wave of grief and hopelessness wracked his body. A groan escaped Gerard’s lips as he wrapped his arms protectively around his body, turning over to bury his face in the ground. He quietly wished for death. He was alone and he was afraid and he was tired. He wanted nothing more than to be done with this harrowing journey that he had thrust upon himself, not knowing how it would progress. 

But he could do nothing more than lay there motionless, arms still wound tightly around his torso. The sun was climbing higher in the sky, the heat amplifying with every passing minute. Maybe today it would end him for good.

***

“Is Dad going out again?” Gerard asked his mother worriedly, clutching onto the sleeve of her dirty sweater.

She rubbed circles in his back as her eyebrows creased with worry.

“He has to, Gerard. We’re running low on water and food.”

“Can I go with him? Maybe I can help.”

“Absolutely not. You don’t need to worry about helping, you just need to stay safe. And safe is right here.”

Gerard hung his, knowing there was no use in arguing with his mother. And truthfully, he did want to stay in the shelter with her. The idea of going out into the desert expanse when it was this close to nightfall scared him. He knew his father had a strong sense of direction and would be fine without him, but he just felt so useless and frustrated.

Resigned, Gerard put his head on his mother’s shoulder, attempting to offer her some comfort. He felt his mother’s worry radiating off of her and he knew she was grateful for his presence. He knew she was trying to be strong for him but it was getting difficult as the long desert days wore down on the small family. They had been trying to reach Battery City for weeks and they had no idea if they were getting close or going in the complete opposite direction. Frankly, they had been ill-prepared when they set off on their expedition and were paying the price for it now. They were weak and dehydrated and hadn’t been lucky enough to have found any supplies to scavenge from other groups on the same path or from ruins of towns that no longer existed. Their desperation was high.

Gerard’s father turned around one last time to look at his wife and son. He knew the risk he was taking going out this late to find water and hopefully some food, but he feared his family would be too weak to continue tomorrow if they didn’t get any soon. He too was afraid, terrified even. But he needed to protect his family. He would do whatever it took to make sure they were taken care of.

The next morning, as the first rays of light began to stretch across the sandy expanse of the desert, he still hadn’t returned. Gerard’s mother began to sob. Gerard, refusing to accept what he already feared had happened to his father, held her and whispered words of comfort that he knew were falling on deaf ears.

***

After almost ten days of waiting, they knew they had to move on. By day four, Gerard had already accepted that his father wasn’t coming back. Whether he had died or just gotten hopelessly lost in a whole other direction, they didn’t know. But they had to keep going if they had any hope of getting to Battery City in this lifetime. Gerard had to practically pull his mother away from the rock shelter that they had been sleeping in since the day his father had gone out for water. She allowed a few tears to fall, but nothing more. Needless to say, neither of them dared to go out during the night for supplies anymore. Water and food trips were strictly daytime tasks, no exceptions.

They continued to cross the desert, ever unsure if they were moving towards their final destination or further into the dangers of the unknown world they had found themselves in. Days passed and their motivation to keep going was stripped away further and further. A couple of times, they had come upon some ruins and were momentarily filled with hope - only to find that anything of value had already been scavenged and there was nothing left for them. They would hang their heads and trudged on, leaning on each other for support.

“Gerard, I think we need to find a place to stay for the night,” his mother said softly to him one afternoon.

“Mom, it’s still early in the day. The sun isn’t going to start setting for another few hours.”

“I know but I’m just getting really tired. I need to find someone to lay down for a while.”

Gerard was worried because his mother hadn’t had anything to drink in almost 24 hours. They had dug up some water yesterday but it wasn’t a particularly bountiful occurrence. She had allowed him to drink most of it, ever concerned with keeping her child alive. He knew she was probably severely dehydrated.

“Okay. Next cave we see, we’ll stop.”

They came upon it about an hour later. Gerard’s mother had begun to grow quite pale, but she kept insisting she just needed to rest for a little while.

They made themselves as comfortable as they could, but it was becoming more and more difficult to do so. Their backs had become stiff from constantly sleeping on sand and stone, their lungs filled with dirt, their feet cramped from constant walking. Gerard fell asleep easily that night, the exertion of the past couple of weeks exhausting his soul.

He woke up when it was dark. The stars shone almost agonizingly bright in the clear night sky, lighting up the cave. His mother was asleep next to him as well, still as stone.

Gerard shook her shoulder gently. “Mom?”

She didn’t move. Gerard’s heart leapt up into his throat. His breathing quickened.

“Mom?” he repeated, his voice cracking. He shook her a little harder and still no response.

It took every ounce of courage that Gerard had in his body to do what he did next. He closed his eyes and brought his fingers up to his mother’s neck, feeling for a pulse. There was nothing there. Not a single throb. The rising and falling of her chest had ceased. No breathing sounds escaped her mouth or nose.

Gerard let his hand fall, nausea quickly rising in his stomach. Without a sound, he lay back down next to his mother, his ears ringing. He took her cold hand in his and squeezed his eyes shut, praying to any god that would listen that this was just a terrible nightmare that he would wake up from.

The sun rose again the next morning and Gerard began to cry as the hand in his remained cold.

***

He had lost track of the days. He didn’t care to count them anymore. The only thing that kept him going - barely - was the feeling of his mother’s moon-shaped amulet around his neck. He knew that no matter what, his parents would have wanted him to make it to Battery City for a chance at a better life. Even though he prayed for death constantly, Gerard felt he at least owed it to his parents to spend his moments alive working towards that.

Gerard was getting sick of having to look for caves to sleep and rest in all the time. He was sick of seeing the same stretch of sand in front of him. It all looked the same. Every single day was more of the same shit and he was sick of it. But he kept going. He had to do this for his parents, or their deaths would be in vain.

He found shelter and began to prepare for the night. He laid down, resting his head on his mother’s shirt that he had taken from her corpse. The smell of her was beginning to wear off but the feeling of the soft fabric against his cheek gave him some relief. He had just begun to drift off when he was violently yanked up from the ground.

“You’re coming with us.”

He didn’t have time to make a sound before he was struck hard across the face. Stars danced in front of his eyes as he fought to remain conscious despite the intensity of the pain that now wracked his face. He shook his head and stole a glance at the two men who had hoisted him up by his elbows. They were wearing dark clothes and sunglasses, laser guns strapped into holsters on their belts. Gerard’s survival instinct began to kick in and he jostled around, trying to free himself. He was met with another fist to his cheek and he cried out in pain.

Gerard began to see a massive building appear in front of him. It wasn’t tall, but it’s length spanned several yards. It was mostly jet-black with accents of strong-looking stone walls. It didn’t look inviting in the slightest and he began to tremble, the reality of what was happening to him finally setting in. Was he going to be taken prisoner in this strange place? Where was he? How far off into the desert had he wandered?

When they got to the massive black-painted steel front door, one of the guards punched in a code in the number pad next to it. A loud mechanical sound filled his ears as the door began to rise, revealing more darkness up ahead. Gerard almost passed out from the acute fear that gripped his gut. He was too weak to fight back against these men holding him against his will and he knew it. He felt he was probably going to die within the next few minutes.

The black-clothed men dragged his down a dimly lit corridor. He noticed that the building looked as though it were still under construction. Lightbulbs were missing in some portions of the ceiling, giant areas of plaster peaked through stone and black paint. Some areas were restricted by yellow tape.

Eventually, they got to another door made of thick wood. One of the men swung it open and together, they tossed Gerard through. He landed on the ground hard, his breath knocked out of him. Before he had time to make a sound, the door had closed again and he was alone.

The room was practically bare save for a single bed near a window. Gerard looked around, terrified and unsure of what to do. Was anyone else going to come in? Was he supposed to wait on the ground? Was he about to be beaten?

“Hello? Is anyone there?” he called out weakly. “Anyone? Please! Why am I here?!”

No answers came. Gerard got up and pounded his fists on the door, yelling out to anyone who could potentially hear him. He yelled and screamed and slammed his fists against the thick, solid wood until his knuckles began to bleed. But he was so weak from weeks of starvation and dehydration that he couldn’t keep it up for long. He pressed his back to the door, sliding down to the floor again and burying his face in his hands. He couldn’t even cry.

The sound of sliding metal made his head shoot up as he saw a tray being passed through a small opening at the bottom of the door. Looks like he was a prisoner after all. But this was the first actual plate of food that Gerard had seen in weeks, coupled with a tall glass of water. His survival instinct kicked in and he pounced on the tray, not even registering what he was eating. All he felt was his hand shoving food into his mouth, gulping down water until he thought he would choke. His stomach had grown so small at this point that he didn’t even finish what was there, despite the portion being small to begin with.

As if on autopilot, Gerard stalked over to the bed and collapsed on top of it. He didn’t even bother pulling the sheets over his body even though he hadn’t felt that luxury in a long time. He immediately fell into a dreamless, heavy sleep.

And so the next two days went. No one came to see him, but he received two full meals a day passed through the trap door. He was still weak but he felt some of his energy begin to return. Most of his days were spent sleeping as he attempted to repair his body from weeks’ worth of physical trauma sustained from bearing the harsh desert climate. And then the third night came.

Gerard’s body went stiff as he heard the wooden door creak open. He wasn’t sure if he was dreaming but he remained completely and kept his eyes closed still just to be sure. He heard the soft patter of footsteps begin to approach him and his heart rate quickened. He was vaguely aware of the feeling that someone was standing over him. His heart pounded in his ears but he kept his breathing steady, not wanting to alert the intruder to the fact that he was awake. He felt a hand come up to his chest, grazing his mother’s amulet that was resting against his chest. Suddenly, he felt rough hands wrap around his throat and begin to squeeze. His eyes shot open in panic.

Instinctively, Gerard brought his knee up hard, smashing it into the man’s groin. He yelped in pain and staggered backwards. It was dark and extremely hard to see but Gerard saw the silhouette of the man. He was much bigger than him, but Gerard was now in full fight mode. The anger that he felt at the prospect of someone stealing the last precious item he had of his mother’s combined with his returning strength kept him on his feet. He was ready to fight back against this anonymous assailant.

The figure lunged at Gerard again, knocking him to the floor. He put his arms up to protect his face against the punches that were being thrown at him. His forearms screamed out in pain but Gerard kept his hands up, waiting for an opportunity to turn the tables. When the man’s fists were raised, Gerard brought his knees up and rolled over, sending the man to the floor. He took the opportunity to pounce on top of the man and gave him a hard punch to the chest. He groaned, clutching at himself and Gerard took the opportunity to hit him again. His eyes had adjusted to the darkness now and he could see the man more clearly. He had a shaved head and a mean-looking face. He was wearing the same dark clothing as the men who had kidnapped him and brought him here yesterday. He was toned, but not too muscular. If Gerard was smart, maybe he could escape with his life.

He had a clear shot to the man’s face and he took it, feeling the crushing bone of the man’s nose beneath his face. The man cried out in agony, rage fueling his body further. Gerard made the mistake of taking a second to rub his sore knuckles and the man brought his head up fast, smashing his forehead against Gerard’s. All the sound left his ears and his vision went black as he felt himself falling backwards, pain exploding in his skull. Before he knew it, he was back on the ground again, the entirety of the man’s weight pressing on his body. His hands wrapped around Gerard’s throat again, more forcefully this time as he attempted to finish him off for good.

Gerard struggled to suck air into his lungs as the man’s strong hands crushed his esophagus. He knew he had to act now or he was done for. He reached his arms out beside him, feeling around for something that he could use to defend himself. As he felt his mind begin to fade, his fingers grazed against a cold cylinder. A lead pipe. He wiggled his fingers desperately, needing to get a firm grip on the object. The second his hand wrapped around the pipe, he didn’t waste a second, bring it down as hard as he could on the man’s head.

He heard the crack of bone and the body on top of him crumpled backwards. As soon as the hands left his throat, Gerard gasped violently, coughing against the pressure and soreness. He continued to cough with one hand clutched to his throat, the other holding the pipe. He towered over the crumpled, twitching heap in front of him. The rage still burning inside of him, Gerard brought down the pipe three more times on the man’s body, until he went completely still, blood beginning to pool around his bare feet. He dropped the pipe and collapsed to the floor again, coughing and wheezing as the adrenaline that was coursing through his veins began to fade. As it did, the horror of what he had done began to set in. He was about to start panicking when he heard the soft sound of slow clapping from the doorway. He turned toward the door in complete shock as a man with an eyepatch and a massive amount of dark, curly hair appeared out of the shadows and into the small sliver of moonlight that came in from Gerard’s window.

“That was impressive. The way you defended yourself against Andy was...unexpected.”

“I-I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean - He was trying to-to take my necklace a-and-”

The men held up his hand, silencing Gerard. 

“No need to apologize. I didn’t care much for him,” he sighed, glancing an annoyed look in the direction of the bloody, crumpled body on the floor between them. “Truthfully, many of the men here are incompetent and useless.”

Gerard continued babbling incoherently, but the man clapped his hands together loudly, shutting him up quickly. He eyed Gerard thoughtfully for a few moments, as if weighing some options in his head, sizing him up. Finally, he smiled at him.

“Follow with me to my quarters. I’d like to speak with you about a potential business partnership.”


	6. CHAPTER 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's get this Frerard train rolling, shall we?

#  CHAPTER 5 

Frank still hadn’t fully adjusted to this new life that he had been unwillingly thrust into. Most days, he still felt like he was stuck in an awful waking nightmare. Nothing felt real anymore. The only thing that kept him slightly grounded and from going off the rails of absolute insanity was Mikey. He could tell that Frank was having a rough time going through the motions at the base and he mostly just kept the thread that Frank was hanging from intact.

They were woken up on another nameless, unimportant day to head to the mines. The guards were crankier than usual because of their double patrol shifts. They barked at the workers impatiently, rushing them to get ready and out the door. Frank was shoved by someone and almost toppled over onto the person walking in front of him. He could already sense that this day was going to knock the shit out of him.

They arrived at the mines and the soldiers wasted no time getting the workers underground. Frank was surprised by the way the dips of the mining cart tracks cut his breath and made his stomach do little dips of their own as they passed over them. The fumes and the stench of the underground still made him cough violently, bringing tears to his eyes. Mikey shot him a look of concern - the only facial expression he seemed to sport whenever he was with Frank - but Frank waved him off. All he wanted was to get this part of the day over with so he could transition to the next part where he could lay in his small bed and stare blankly at the ceiling.

Arriving at their destination, they swiftly got to work. Gripping a pickaxe in his hand still felt so incredibly foreign to Frank. He was afraid of it every time he wrapped his hand around its wooden handle. He was almost envious of how Mikey and the rest of the workers here could swing theirs with such confidence and ease, though he imagined it came with months, even years, of practice. He both looked forward to and dreaded that day coming for him, if it ever did.

Nervously, Frank began to swing at the massive wall of stone, dirt and minerals in front of him, keeping his eyes peeled for uranium. He was still often unsure about what it was exactly he was looking for but he would peer over at Mikey whenever he caught him digging into the dirt with his hands to see what it was he was holding. Thankfully, Mikey always gave Frank a wide view of what it was he was doing, since he knew he was secretly looking to him for guidance. Frank was eternally grateful for him and everything he was doing to keep him from getting into any kind of trouble.

He was still throwing uneasy swings at the wall, keeping Mikey in his peripheral vision as the latter began to tear into the wall with his gloved hands. Frank’s eyes got big as he saw a massive piece of uranium being extracted from where Mikey’s hands were digging in. It was a huge mistake on his part to let himself get distracted like that. As Frank leaned back further to observe Mikey’s impressive find, an explosion of earth-shattering pain blasted through his thigh. His entire body froze in shock as a scream ripped through his throat, reverberating against the cave walls surrounding the group of workers and soldiers. Immediately, Frank felt his knees buckle underneath him and he crumpled to the ground, clutching his leg as the agony continued to surge through his entire body. His vision became fuzzy but he blinked hard to keep himself from falling unconscious. Blood seeped through the leg of his pants and trickled through his fingers where his hands clutched desperately at the wound.

Frank was vaguely aware of the sound of urgent voices yelling around him but he was too focused on trying to stop the bleeding in his thigh to decipher what they were saying. He felt dizzy watching the blood escaping his body, but he felt as if looking away would somehow give his body permission to let even more of it go. He felt an arm wrap itself around his shoulders and then he heard Mikey’s voice in his ear.

“Dude, you’re losing so much blood right now. Come on, we need to get you to the infirmary at the base.”

Frank kept his arm locked tightly around Mikey’s body but even with the two of them working together, they struggled to lift Frank off the ground. His right leg was completely non-functioning and only one worried-looking guard bothered help Mikey lift Frank off the ground while the others just scowled and kept their eyes trained on the other workers. Frank continued to groan and yelp out in pain as he was dragged to the mine cart, Mikey by his side. He wrapped his handkerchief around Frank’s leg in an attempt to slow the flow of blood exiting his leg.

“You got him?” the guard asked Frank, shooting a look at his comrades over his shoulder. Not a single one of them even bothered to glance in their direction.

“Yeah, I’ll take him to the infirmary.”

“Okay but then you come right back. Don’t let me catch you sneaking off thinking you’re getting out of your duties for the day because this idiot went and got himself hurt.”

Frank wanted to protest at being called an idiot but he kept his teeth clenched together both out of sheer agony and fear of repercussions for speaking out of turn.  
Mikey nodded and got their cart back to the entrance of the cave, the midday sun illuminating the shiny, dark red liquid that coated almost the entirety of Frank’s leg. Mikey had to drag Frank as he attempted to hop on his left leg while letting his useless one trail behind him. The base wasn’t an incredibly long distance from the mining cave but it felt like an eternity to Frank as sharp bouts of pain and dull aching throbs in his leg threatened to send him collapsing to the sandy ground.  
It felt like hours before they finally reached the entrance that the workers came in from. Mikey was panting from the strain of pulling almost the entirety of Frank’s body weight but still he kept him steady and as upright as possible.

“Come on man, just a short distance more and we’ll get you patched up,” he said reassuringly as Frank would groan with even the smallest amount of pressure being put on his leg.

“Is anyone there? We need medical help, now!” Mikey yelled when they were within earshot of the main quarters of the base.

He continued to drag Frank, who was on the verge of passing out, until he heard the sound of quick footsteps echoing off the walls.

Gerard came into view as he turned a corner further down the corridor, eyes wide and pushing his bright red hair back in anticipation.

“Mikey, what happened to him?”

“Put a pickaxe through his thigh. He got distracted and the next time he swung…”

Gerard scrunched up his face as he stared at Frank’s bloody leg that had begun to make a mess on the floor.

“Gee, I need to get back. I’m gonna get in serious shit if-”

“Of course, yeah. Leave Frank with me, I’ll get him patched up at the infirmary. Nurse is out today but I’ve got this.”

Gerard clapped Mikey on the shoulder reassuringly as the younger man nodded fiercely.

“You’ll be fine, okay Frank? I’ll come check on you the second I get back.”

Frank nodded weakly, unable to respond to Mikey as the pain surged through his body, choking him up. Mikey unravelled his arm from around Frank’s torso and gently pushed him towards Gerard who caught him in the same position. Frank made a pained sound as the transfer put weight on his injured leg.

“Shit, you’re really bleeding. Come on, Frank. I’d say slow and steady but we can’t have you losing any more blood here.”

“Thanks, Gee,” Mikey said over his shoulder as he jogged back the way they had just come.

Gerard looked down at Frank’s leg repeatedly, his eyebrows creased with worry. By the time they had reached the infirmary, Frank was practically dead weight against him.

“Okay, we’re here. Let’s go Frank, just a few more steps.” Gerard grunted as he lifted Frank’s body and laid him down on a small cot. He was becoming anxious from the lack of response he was receiving, even more so because Frank could hardly seem to keep his eyes open.

“Stay awake, Frank. I’m gonna get you fixed up, okay? You’re gonna be fine. Shit...you’re gonna be fine.”

Gerard wasted no time getting medical supplies. He had been trained in first aid by some of the nurses at the base when he had first started his position with Ray, as they needed someone who was often around the base who could jump in to give an extra hand if necessary. The soldiers were usually out patrolling or keeping an eye on the workers in the mines so they weren’t around as much.

He brought alcohol wipes, ointment and gauze wrap over to where Frank was laying motionless on the cot. His eyes fluttered but he fought to stay awake. He made a sound of displeasure when he saw the supplies that Gerard was carrying over to him, wincing in anticipation.

“Okay, this is gonna be uncomfortable, but I’m gonna need you to take off your pants since the injury is so far up on your leg.”

Frank just nodded, not having the strength to do it himself, but giving Gerard permission to remove his clothing. He did just that, Frank crying out in pain as the fabric of his pants rubbed up against the gash on his leg.

“I know, I know. I’m sorry,” Gerard said sternly but apologetically.

Frank’s eyes widened in fear as Gerard began unwrapping the first alcohol wipe and setting aside the ointment and bandages.

“This is gonna burn like hell but you’re gonna feel better after, okay? Trust me.”

In one swift motion, he brought the thin paper alcohol wipe down on Frank’s wound and he hissed in pain before letting out a strangled cry. He squeezed his eyelids together trying to keep the tears away. He hadn’t cried up until this point but the sickening, burning feeling was bringing him close to the edge.

When Gerard was done disinfecting the area and wiping the blood away, he began to apply the ointment. It still burned, but less than the alcohol. Frank whimpered, silently begging for this whole ordeal to end.

“Christ Frank, what did you do? I’m afraid I might even need to stitch you up here.”

“God...please…” Frank managed to strangle out.

 _Well, at least he can still speak_ , Gerard thought to himself.

“Listen, I’m gonna bandage you up and I’ll reassess later about the stitches. For now, I just want to disinfect it and stop the bleeding as much as possible. He grabbed a fresh cloth and tied it around the upper part of Frank’s thigh before beginning to unwind the gauze. Carefully, he began unwrapping the bandage and winding it around the wound.

“I...really hate this place,” Frank whispered, falling back against the cot, eyes fluttering shut again while he was tended to.

Gerard rolled his eyes. “Well, maybe you should be more careful about where you swing your pickaxe next time,” he quipped in an annoyed tone.

“I wouldn’t have had to worry about a pickaxe smashing through my leg at all if you had just left me alone out there in the first place,” Frank whispered angrily.

“It’s my job. You got unlucky. I won’t apologize for following orders from my superiors.”

Frank didn’t know how to respond to that but he glared at Gerard darkly all the same. Sure, the man was the only one helping him with his leg right now but that didn’t mean he thought he was a good person. He was only doing it because he needed him to get back to work as soon as possible and that angered him.

When the gauze had been securely fastened around his leg, Gerard stood up, moving to wash his hands in the sink.

“You'll stay here for now. I’ll come check up on you later to see how the gash is healing up. Until then, get some rest,” he said curtly.

Frank crossed his arms over his chest, leg still pulsating. He turned over in his cot to look away from Gerard, not having anything else to say to him. He would feel better once he was gone.

With a sigh, Gerard moved towards the door. He stopped in the entrance and turned back to look at Frank, as if he wanted to say something else to him, but then shook his head and walked away. He had other things to take care of today.

When he couldn’t hear his footsteps anymore, Frank closed his eyes and waited for the pull of sleep to release him from his pain for a little while.


	7. CHAPTER 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little shorter and more filler-y, but I promise there is more plot-advancing and exciting stuff coming up :) I just wanted to update this story after the craziness of the holidays! Happy new year everyone!

#  CHAPTER 6 

Ray drummed his fingers impatiently on the oak table and scowled when Gerard finally made his way into his quarters.

“You’re late, Gerard.”

“My apologies, sir. There was an incident at the mines that I needed to take care of.”

Ray raised his eyebrows, annoyed, at his statement. “What kind of incident?”

“One of the workers sustained a pretty serious injury. I had to get him to the infirmary and patch him up before he bled out in the corridor.”

“Who was it?”

“Frank, the new recruit.”

Ray sighed and rubbed his temples. “That one has been causing us some issues, hasn’t he?”

Gerard cocked his head, unsure how to respond. “Well...I think he just needs some more time to adjust.”

“We don’t have more time to give this kid. He needs to get his shit together, fast. The end of the month is coming up and our numbers are not what they should be. The increased patrol times haven’t been helping much either, have they?”

Gerard didn’t know what to say, so he hung his head. He knew that when Ray was agitated like this, the best course of action was to just remain silent, nod in agreement and wait for the man’s anger to simmer down.

Ray cleared his throat loudly and Gerard raised his head to look at him expectantly.

“Come on, we don’t have all day. We need to go over the numbers and reports.”

Gerard sat across from Ray at the table, dreading the next few hours ahead of him.  
***  
Frank was beginning to rouse from his nap when he heard the sound of urgent footsteps heading down the hall towards the infirmary. The blinds were drawn so the room was dark. He rubbed his eyes, waiting for them to adjust. The sharp pain that had engulfed his thigh before he had fallen asleep had now turned into a deep, throbbing ache that he felt throughout his entire leg. He sucked in a sharp breath and instinctively clutched his leg as the fluorescent lights flickered on in the room.

Mikey was in the doorway, looking at Frank with a mix of both worry and relief.

“Oh, good, you’re not dead.”

Frank smiled in spite of the pain. “Kinda wish I was, but yeah, good and alive.”

“Dude, don’t say that. I was really worried all day.”

Before Frank had time to respond, Gerard was next to Mikey, crossing his arms over his chest. He stared at Frank quizzically.

“Rest well?” he asked.

Frank glared at Gerard defiantly. “Not at all, but thanks for asking,” he responded sarcastically.

Gerard narrowed his eyes at him. “Careful, Frank. Don’t forget who it is you’re talking to.”

Mikey bit his lip and glanced back and forth between the two men. He didn’t want Frank to get in trouble over backtalk of all things. “Okay, how about taking a deep breath over there, Frank. Okay? Everything is fine now.”

Frank groaned, pulling his leg in closer to him. “No, it’s not. My leg hurts so fucking bad. How am I gonna walk? What if me being injured gets me in trouble now? I’m so stupid, I shouldn’t have let myself get distracted with a pickaxe in my hand, of all things.”

Crossing the room, Gerard opened a cabinet near the sinks and pulled out a small blue bottle. He shook two small pills out into his hands and gave them to Frank. “Here. These will take the edge off a bit.”

Frank gave him a wary look but still took the pills out of Gerard’s hands, swallowing them dry.

“Mikey, does anyone know you’re here?” Gerard asked worriedly, throwing a look over his shoulder into the hallway.

“Yeah, I volunteered to come get Frank from the infirmary because none of the guards wanted to do it. They all seem to have woken up on the wrong side of the bed today or something,” Mikey said, shrugging.

Gerard sighed, pinching the space between his eyebrows. He looked absolutely finished with this day. “Yeah. We doubled up on the patrol times and they’re pissed.”  
Mikey knew, just looking at Gerard’s demeanor, that he had borne the brunt of the guards’ rage. He knew because Ray had turned Gerard into a punching bag for the other men. He had seen firsthand how he was treated by the others and it made his blood boil. 

Mikey knew he should feel nothing but resentment towards Gerard for who he was and his place at the base but truthfully, he cared about him. He had been one of the first workers to be brought here when Gerard had just started his position, and he had made efforts to be nice to Mikey in the beginning when things were really tough. It had taken some time, but he knew eventually Gerard had taken a liking to him.

He ran his hand through his hair frustratedly, wanting to help Gerard but knowing he was useless to the cause. He wanted to at least give him a comforting pat on the shoulder but the fear that any guard could come cruising around around the corner and catch them being friendly stopped him immediately. Instead, he looked at Gerard with a fire in his eyes that was laced with sympathy, and the latter knew exactly what that look meant. The two had practically mastered the art of silent communication.

“You should be getting Frank back now. I don’t want anyone to come looking for you and getting you into shit, okay?” Gerard said sternly.

Mikey had never had to deal with a situation like this before. He knew he would be tasked with taking care of Frank for a while now but he had no idea how he was going to do that. Short of just being with him and refuting when he would say self-depracting things about how stupid he was for letting this happen, he was clueless. What would he do if a guard made him try to go back to work tomorrow? He would be physically unable to do that for at least a few days. Gerard could maybe put a word in for Frank’s recovery but even at that, it would be a futile effort if Ray wasn’t having it. Regardless, he had to get himself moving back to the barracks now if he had any chance of doing something.

Mikey and Gerard helped Frank off the bed with Frank wincing in pain. His painkillers still hadn’t kicked in yet and the throbbing in his leg was making his head spin. He thought of the walk he and Mikey now had to make back to the workers quarters and just about let himself fall to the floor in defeat. The day had been so mentally and physically taxing already that he didn’t know if he could take one more step.

His arm wrapped around Mikey’s neck once more, Frank looked up at Gerard. He considered thanking him but stubbornly decided against it. What did he have to be grateful to Gerard for?

With one more nod to Gerard, Mikey began to lead Frank down the long, dark corridor towards the barracks. Frank thought of the bed, however small and slightly uncomfortable it was, that was waiting for him and let that be the motivation to keep him moving forward with Mikey’s encouragements.

Arriving at their meager living space, Frank collapsed on top of the wrinkled sheets that had grown to be his biggest physical comfort in that depressing place. He didn’t know what lay ahead for him the next day, but he was too drained to let the thought occupy his mind too much. He fell into sleep again not long before Mikey was nudging him awake for dinner. Rinse and repeat.


	8. CHAPTER 7

#  CHAPTER 7 

If Frank had had even the tiniest inkling that the next day was going to be better than the last, it was immediately squashed by the feeling of an elbow in his side and a loud voice in his ear commanding him to get up. He was so startled that he didn’t even make a noise when his body shot up out of his bed, bolts of pain rippling down from his hip to his ankle.

“I’m still feeling really awful, please -”

“Enough. Get up and get ready to work.”

Frank gawked, pleading with the faceless soldier who was already walking away from him to just let him rest for one day, his leg was still in so much pain, but the man’s back was already disappearing behind a corner.

Letting his head drop into his hands, Frank fought back the hot tears that he already felt spilling over his eyelids. He was hurting and he was exhausted and he couldn’t foresee an entire day of work ahead of him with his busted up leg and head foggy from yesterday’s entire ordeal. He seriously contemplated just giving up, staying in bed, and letting the men do what they would to him. But then there was Mikey, hovering over him and blocking out the sunlight that had begun to stream in. Frank let out a whimper and Mikey nodded sympathetically.

“I know, Frank. But we have to go.”

Willing himself to rise up, forcing that part of himself that was bent on survival to take over his body, Frank lay his palms down at the sides of his thighs and pushed himself up, stifling the groan that rose up in his throat. Limping over to where Mikey was waiting patiently for him, Frank sucked in a breath and forced himself to look ahead and face the bullshit day ahead of him. He felt defeated but his survival instinct wasn’t dead just yet.

Seemingly catching onto his sudden burst of determination, Mikey gave Frank a coy smile.

“Atta boy. Come on, if you don’t hurry your limping ass up, we’ll get to the mines in a week from now.”

***  
Gerard felt the tension in the air as soon as his eyes fluttered open. There had been no nighttime or morning patrols as there were more important matters to attend to that day, so he had the chance to sleep in for a while before the madness started. He briefly touched his mother’s amulet around his neck, letting it ground him, and breathed deeply. Today was going to be fine. It was a routine procedure, and not his first go-around at that.

He shuffled off his bed, grabbing some of his better clothes from his dresser. He fixed his hair so all the wayward pieces pointing in every direction were smoothed down, and he splashed cold water on his face, awakening his senses. Satisfied with his appearance and his overall mood shifting back to calm, he took the stairs two at a time to the main floor and presented himself in front of Ray.

“Good morning.”

“Good morning Gerard,” Ray mumbled absently as he rifled through the stack of papers he had in front of him. He pushed his hands through the mass of curls on his head and whipped around to give Gerard a frantic look.

“They’ll be here soon, won’t they?”

“Should be any minute now by my estimation, sir,” Gerard replied.

He checked his watch and, as if on cue, the faint sounds of helicopter blades slicing through the air began to fill the room. Ray’s eyes widened only briefly before he shook himself out of whatever stupor or haze he was in. He had to be on his top game today, he knew that. Like every other meeting, he had to present himself as if he had everything under control, even when that wasn’t the whole truth.

He walked briskly to meet the visitors at the front door, which were thrown open by a few guards who had stayed behind for the day to tend to them.

Gerard lingered behind with his hands clasped behind his back. His stomach flipped ever so slightly as the doors burst completely open. A posse of about four people walked slowly into the base, their buttons with their creepy happy face logo fastened to their jackets glinted in the morning sunlight. Better Living Industries really had to make a show of who they were in whatever room they walked into.

Ray shook all their hands and then gestured behind him to where Gerard was standing.

“Please, right this way,” he said in his most pleasant voice.

Gerard forced down an annoyed scoff. As ruthless as Ray wanted to everyone at this base to believe he was, he was complete putty in the hands of Better Living Industries. The man feared them - or rather, feared the power they had over him and how quickly they could take all of this away. As the group got closer to him, he put on a welcoming smile and did a little bow. He tried not to speak unless spoken to as Ray had instructed him. He used these meetings to brag about how well things were going at the base and God help him if Gerard took that away.

They all headed up to Ray’s quarters where one of the guards was standing by for refreshments.

“Would any of you like some coffee? Tea? Water?”

“Coffee, please. Black,” one of the men in a suit said in a bored tone.

“Same for me,” came from the woman in the black blazer sitting next to him. The other two murmured in agreement.

 _How boring_ , Gerard thought to himself. No one asked him if he wanted anything.

***

Ray pressed his fingers hard onto the table, his fingertips turning white from the pressure. He was trying really hard not to drum them on the wood out of stress as he searched the face of the man in the suit reading the papers in front of him. He wore an unimpressed look on his face, his lips slightly puckered. He raised his eyes to meet Ray’s.

“Not quite what we were expecting from you, Mr. Toro.”

“I can explain. Recruitment has been low due to the lack of people who come out to this part of the desert, and many of the men I have already are worn down from years of working the mines -”

The main raised his hand, silencing any further words from Ray’s mouth.

“The fact is that our demand for uranium has remained constant while your results have been dipping over the last few months. Didn’t you pick up a new recruit recently?”

Ray scowled. “Yes, but the kid has proven to be next to useless. He is slightly more comfortable here than he was in the beginning but his work in the mines shows nothing of it. And he was recently injured out of his own carelessness.”

The man shrugged his shoulders, never breaking eye contact with Ray.

“That is a problem you should be dealing with, it is none of our concern. If he won’t work, make him. We expect perfection and that expectation is not currently being met. Our patience is wearing thin, Mr. Toro.”

With that, all the suits stood up simultaneously, leaving Ray gawking at their torsos. Gerard snuck a worried glance over at him. He dreaded how he was going to take this out on everyone after the Better Living Industries people had left.

“Anyway, we have the food supplies being loaded out from the helicopter by your men. It should keep you going until we come back next month when you will, hopefully, have better results to report to us.” His voice had an edge of threat to it, as if to say, _you absolutely better have good news for us next time around - or else_.

Ray let his head drop momentarily, before raising it to face the suits again and clearing his throat. He felt absolutely emasculated right now and the rage had begun to brew inside of him.

“Thank you all for coming. I assure you that you will not be disappointed at your next visit.”

They all nodded curtly at him as they turned and were escorted away by the guards waiting at the door.

Ray continued to stare at the door long after they had left and Gerard was beginning to get nervous. He knew this meeting was going to go badly but now that it was over, he was genuinely terrified that Ray was going to snap.

Sighing loudly, Ray turned to face Gerard. He wore an odd smile on his face that only scared Gerard further.

“Let’s go check on the workers, shall we?”

Gerard could only nod as he followed Ray out of his quarters and down to the barracks where the workers were just getting in from their day’s work. A protective instinct suddenly flooded Gerard’s body as he feared that Ray was going to do something to hurt them for making him look like a fool.

Ray quickened his pace as they approached and Gerard felt his heart leap into his throat. The doors crashed open and all the workers stopped in their tracks and gaped at the door. They had each maybe only seen Ray once or twice in their time here, and never because he had come to their quarters of his own free will.

He stood in the doorway, looking around menacingly until his eyes stopped on Frank, who was sitting next to Mikey and rubbing his leg.

Ray pointed his finger directly at him. “You.”

Frank twisted around, unsure if Ray was addressing him or someone else behind him. He looked more confused than anything. Mikey had begun to rise from where he sat, shielding half of Frank’s body with his own. Gerard looked at him with terrified eyes and shook his head frantically.

 _Don’t get in the middle of this_ , his expression pleaded.

Ray motioned to three nearby guards. “You three. Get Frank out of here.”

Frank made a terrified squeaking sound. “Get me out of where? What’s happening?”

A frightening smile spread across Ray’s face as Frank was jostled to a standing position by the guards. He yelped as pressure was put on his bad leg.

“You’ll be spending the next couple of nights in solitary. Maybe you'll learn a lesson or two about proper work ethic that way.”

He turned on his heel and walked away before he could hear any of the protests from Frank, Mikey, and a few other workers. Mikey gestured towards Gerard, demanding that he do something. All Gerard could do was stand in the doorway, useless and confused.


	9. CHAPTER 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apparently my brain decided it was in a writing mood tonight. Also, I've been excited about this chapter for a while so I wanted to get it out! Hope you all enjoy and thank you for reading - I appreciate all of you :')

#  CHAPTER 8 

Gerard lay awake in his bed, completely unable to sleep. Every time he closed his eyes, he would see Frank sitting on his lonely, solitary room floor, arms hugging his legs to his chest. He threw his pillow over his eyes, attempting to squeeze the sad image from his brain but it was of no use. Especially since he felt Frank so close to him.

The solitary cell was in the basement, a few hundred feet down the corridor to Gerard’s left where much of the base’s storage was also kept. It was devised this way since the basement was the most isolated area of the entire base that pretty much no one except Gerard ever occupied for longer than a few minutes at a time. Gerard couldn’t hear or see Frank from his quarters but he felt his presence all around him. People weren’t often sent to solitary but when they were, Gerard was always left completely uneasy until they were released. It was as if he were occupying the area with a ghost that was haunting him.

With a frustrated grunt, Gerard threw off his covers, the memories from the previous day rolling through his mind like a twisted movie. He had been the one to bring Frank his meager supper that night and the man was completely unresponsive. Gerard had opened the little trap door where the trays were pushed through and announced the arrival of his food. Frank hadn’t moved an inch from where he lay on the ground with his back to the door, his body wracked with quiet sobs. Gerard couldn’t stand to watch; he had pushed the tray in Frank’s direction and quickly left, desperately trying to wipe the pathetic image from his memory.

Now he stared up at the ceiling, willing his body to get at least a little bit of sleep. If he slept, he wouldn’t have to think. But his body had other plans because Gerard suddenly swung his legs over the side of the bed and padded down the corridor leading to the solitary cell. He felt as if he were on autopilot, or a marionette on a string. He had hardly processed the fact that he had gotten up in the first place until he was face-to-face with the cold steel door.

Gerard pressed his ear to the door, straining to hear for any sound coming from Frank. He just wanted to make sure he wasn’t having an emotional breakdown or somehow harming himself in there. When he was met with nothing but silence, he cautiously knelt down until he was at eye-level with the slat in the door that could be opened to communicate with anyone inside the room. Sucking in a deep breath, he unlocked the flap that covered it and peered into the dim space. It was lit only by a tiny lightbulb high in a corner where it couldn’t be reached by whoever was inside.

“Frank?” he whispered cautiously. He saw his silhouette leaning against the cold stone wall, staring blankly across the small space.

“Are you okay?”

His eyes had adjusted to the dim light and he saw Frank turn his head toward him at a frighteningly slow speed.

“Am I okay? Is that seriously what you’re asking me right now?”

“Look, I’m sorry you’re in here, okay? I...I didn’t want this to happen. I hate it when this happens to anyone.”  
Frank barked out a sarcastic laugh and Gerard shushed him. It was unlikely anyone was going to hear them, but he would rather be safe about this. He would be in a world of trouble if he were caught talking to someone in solitary.

“What a load of bullshit. It’s insulting that you’re acting like you even give a shit at all.”

“What, do you think I’m enjoying this?” Gerard replied defensively.

“I think you like to act like sympathetic to your prisoners when it suits your needs to make yourself sleep better at night. Just my two cents, though,” Frank said bitterly.

“You don’t know _anything_ ,” Gerard shot back. He knew what he looked like to all the workers and staff at the base, the commander’s committed right-hand man, but no one knew anything about him or what he had been through to end up here. He never felt the need to defend himself until now, but Frank’s words felt like a cold shot to his gut. He had been through hell and had ended up somewhere worse because of it. How dare anyone make him out to be the villain when all he was trying to do was survive. They had _no idea_.

Gerard banged his fist against the door, making Frank jump slightly.

“You really think I enjoy this, don’t you? You’ve been here a couple weeks and you think you’ve got me all figured out?”

Frank kept his jaw clenched in anger but didn’t respond. Gerard shook his head, trying to regain his composure. He let his head drop against the door as he consciously slowed his breathing.

He heard Frank sniffle. It was muffled as if he were trying to hide it, but it was unmistakable in the dead silence.  
“If only I had gone with them…” It was barely above a whisper, but Gerard heard it.

“Who?”

There was a long beat of silence and Gerard wondered if Frank had even heard his response. Then he spoke again.

“My parents.”

Gerard sat up curiously. “What happened to your parents?”

“We, uh...we wandered the desert together for a while. We were headed towards Battery City for, uh, a better life, I guess.”

Gerard stayed quiet, silently urging Frank to continue.

“By the time we had gotten to the city limits, I decided I couldn’t go anymore. We had this little radio and I kept getting these weird broadcasts through it that just made me change my mind.”

Frank shook his head but couldn’t stop the words from spilling out of his mouth. He had never told anyone about this and it felt good to just say it out loud, even though Gerard was the only one listening.

“I thought my parents might abandon our quest too if they knew I wasn’t going to go with them anymore but...they left me and went on to the city. Left their own kid to fend for himself in the desert.” He sighed shakily. Gerard sat there stunned.

“I want to believe that they were brainwashed beyond repair but...I just don’t know.”

Gerard closed his eyes and imagined Frank, terrified, standing on the edge of a strange city after being abandoned by his parents. He felt the urge to reach through the tiny hole in the door and comfort him somehow. He started speaking before he could even process the words coming out of his mouth.

“My mom died next to me in her sleep.”

A heavy silence hung in the air after the words had left him.

“We had been wandering the desert too, actually,” he whispered. “We were also going to Battery City. My dad had gone out to get us food and water a couple of weeks before and never came back. We just assumed that he...yeah. Then we couldn’t find good sources of water for a really long time. Whenever we did, my mom gave me most of it. Motherly instinct, I guess. Then one night we went to sleep in a cave we had found and she just...had no pulse the next morning. She was already cold by the time I woke up,” Gerard whispered softly, hardly able to bear the weight of his words. Even years later, it still didn’t truly feel like that had happened to him. Like it was a story he had heard happening to someone else in another lifetime.

Gerard brought his hand up to his face, feeling moisture on his cheeks. He wiped the tears away quickly, just then realizing the gravity of having told Frank about the fate of his parents.

“I’m so sorry, I…I completely hijacked your story there. I just felt like…”

“No, it’s okay,” Frank replied cautiously. “I’m...that’s really terrible. I can’t imagine.”

There was a sudden shift in energy as both Frank and Gerard became aware of how similar their stories were. Neither of them would address it out loud, but they felt sympathy for each other. No matter the situation they found themselves in now, no one deserved to lose a parent, let alone two.

“Just two scared, parentless boys wandering the desert and ending up in this terrible place I guess,” Gerard whispered, resting his head on his knees. He had suddenly become exhausted.

“Yeah,” Frank responded. “One towards Better Living and one away from it.” He paused. “And look how that turned out for them.”

Gerard didn’t know what to say to that. He let the silence linger until the sound of Frank’s soft snores filled his ears.


	10. CHAPTER 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Got some Frerard feelings AND Ray backstory content coming your way!

#  CHAPTER 9 

The sound of frantic scuffling and annoyed murmurs stirred Gerard from his sleep, his head blurry as his body shifted between rousing itself and wanting desperately to sink back into blissful slumber.

Four days had passed since Frank had been sent down to solitary, three nights that Gerard had snuck out from under his covers in the middle of the night to keep Frank company through the mediocre slat in the steel door that separated them. After the first night, when Gerard’s actions were mainly guided by concern and guilt, he had found himself tiptoeing to Frank’s prison the next two nights out of pure want. He found comfort in their whispered conversations. Silences often filled the cracks between their words, and Frank still found opportunities to take jabs at Gerard here and there but mostly they spoke to do just that - speak. Gerard had never had anyone he could confide in about anything in his position, other than a few fragments of conversation with Mikey. Those were always short-lived since they were out in the open more often than not. Down here with Frank, it was as if some protective shield surrounded them during the quiet hours of the night.

And now it seemed like that was going to be taken away from him as he saw Mark stomping around the corner with his hand tightly gripped around Frank’s forearm. Frank’s eyes met Gerard’s for only a second, his hazel irises contoured with thin red tendrils that boasted three nights’ worth of unsatisfactory sleep. Gerard felt slightly guilty, but reminded himself that Frank had made the decision himself to forego sleep in favour of their nightly conversations. The thought of that made his cheeks flush.

“What’s going on?” Gerard demanded, trying to sound authoritative despite the thick sleepiness that coated his speech. He suddenly become very aware of this invasion of his privacy. No one came down to his quarters without him knowing, especially not when he was still in the throes of deep sleep. He tightened his sheets around himself, attempting to fend off the feeling of being completely exposed to one of the guards.

Mark shrugged. “Commander said his time in solitary is up. We need to get him up there so he can get back to work.”

With that, he gave Frank a hard shove towards the stairs, the latter grunting as he almost toppled over from the sudden harsh movement. He turned to sneak one more glance back at Gerard, his eyes unreadable. They weren’t unkind or angry. He looked slightly disappointed.

Gerard began to stretch his arm out towards Frank, but then it drop limply down into his lap. He sighed in frustration, rubbing his hands roughly over his cheeks and trying to make sense of the last few days. He had felt like he was in a impenetrable bubble, he had had something to look forward to after his long days of dealing with bullshit. Though he felt guilty admitting to it, he really wished Frank could have stayed in solitary for a little while longer because now what? He chastised himself for even thinking such a thing. How selfish could he be? How could he wish for an innocent man to stay locked up just so he could have unlimited access to him?

But the truth was, the last three nights were the best, by far, that Gerard had had in his entire time at the base. He wanted to hear more things Frank had to say. How was that supposed to happen now? It was rare that the guards weren’t watching the workers and it was rare that Ray wasn’t ordering Gerard around all day long to do things that he himself didn’t want to take care of. And who was to say that Frank felt the same? He was probably more than glad to be out of his prison and away from Gerard. He probably would have thought Gerard was pathetic for even thinking anything of the last few nights.

Gerard squeezed his eyes shut. He couldn’t sit here ping-ponging with his thoughts all morning. If the guards and workers were up, it meant Ray was probably in his quarters, impatiently awaiting Gerard’s appearance and to begin answering to his every whim. Taking a deep breath, he slowly raised his head, blinking his eyes and grounding himself back in reality.

He let his feet hit the chilly floor and just stood in the center for his room for a few minutes. He allowed himself to just be in the quietness of the early morning before the day got hectic. As he stood and breathed through his nose, he couldn’t help but notice how the space around him actually felt vacant now that Frank wasn’t just a corridor away from him. That first night, Gerard had thought that having him in such close proximity was like sharing his area with a ghost that was haunting him. Now he realized that the only thing that felt haunting was the void that Frank’s absence had left behind.

***

When Gerard entered Ray’s office, he was staring out of the window with a slight frown on his face. He sighed dramatically and turned around to face Gerard. He stared at him for a long while before speaking.

“How are you feeling today?”

Gerard cocked an eyebrow, feeling as though Ray was testing him somehow.

“Doing just fine, sir.”

“Good, good. I was hoping that our little...Frank problem didn’t cause you too much disturbance in your quarters. I know how you like to be left alone.”

“It was no trouble, sir. Everything was fine.”

Ray sighed again and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Everything here is so delicate, Gerard. You know, I lie awake every night stressing over whether I’m running this base to the highest standard. The expectations for me and for my employees is very high, you understand.”

“Of course, sir.”

“And that Frank...we’ve never had such an issue acclimating a worker, have we?”

Gerard just shrugged, pushing down the irritation that struck up inside him at the insult to Frank. Ray narrowed his eyes at him, then turned back to the window.

“I have given everything for Better Living Industries. I won’t be dragged down even a little bit from how far I’ve come.”

***

#  RAY'S BACKSTORY 

Ray stared at the computer monitor in front of him, his eyes hungrily scanning over the data presented on the screen. He reached blindly for the cup of coffee at the corner of his desk, allowing himself a quick look outside the window at Battery City before turning back to his work for the day.

Completely immersed in the day’s reports, he barely registered the knock that came at his office door. Annoyed, he looked up and raised his eyebrow at his coworker who had appeared in the doorway, indicating that she explain her interruption.

“My apologies for bothering you, Mr. Toro. The CEO would like a word.”

Ray almost fell out of his chair in surprise. Standing up quickly, he pushed her through the door without so much as a thank you for letting him know.

Making his way to the elevator, Ray wrung his hands in a mixture of excitement and nervousness. He had no idea what the CEO, Dr. Murtaugh, would want to speak with him about. He couldn’t imagine it would be anything negative. He had been working at Better Living Industries for four years and had never so much as taken an extra 30 seconds on a lunch break. His performance reviews were always sparkling, and he had made impressive leaps in the pharmaceuticals department since he had been transferred there about a year ago from the droids manufacturing department. This could only be good news, he imagined. A raise, maybe.

He rode the elevator all the way up to the 45th floor and took a deep breath before knocking on the Dr. Murtaugh’s door.

“Who is it?”

“Ray Toro.”

“Mr. Toro, please come in.”

Ray pushed the door open, adrenaline shooting through his veins as it truly sunk in that he was in the CEO’s office. He was momentarily mesmerized by the captivating view of Battery City that stretched across the floor-to-ceiling windows behind the CEO’s desk. He snapped back to reality at the sound of his voice.

“Please, have a seat.”

Ray adjusted his tie and sat down across from him. He wasted no time getting to the point.

“I understand that we have you to thank for the termination of that small rebel group over in droid manufacturing.”

Ray sat up a bit straighter, his pride written across his face. “Yes, sir.”

A couple of weeks ago, Ray had happened across a small group of five people with whom he used to work with in the droid manufacturing department whispering about hatching a plan to steal some of Better Living Industries’ yet unused pharmaceutical data and begin an underground drug business. He had been in the basement to retrieve more beakers and printing paper for upstairs when he had found them huddled by private exit. The echo of the long, wide basement hallways had made it easy for Ray to hear them from a distance where they couldn’t see him. He had immediately alerted one of the directors who worked directly under the CEO about the threat. He knew all their names since he used to work in their department so apprehending them was almost too easy. They were seized within minutes, terminated from their positions, and had their memories wiped of their time at the headquarters before being sent back out into Battery City to fend for themselves - Better Living Industries’ preferred method of dealing with enemies.

Looking pleased, Dr. Murtaugh folded his hands on his desk. “You certainly are dedicated to this organization.”

“Yes, sir. There is no employer I would rather work for.”

Smiling wider, Murtaugh got to his next point.

“I have a proposition for you, if you’d be interested. Better Living Industries is in need of mass uranium production for bombs. In the event of unsavoury things such as, oh, let’s say uprisings, revolutions, rebellions, things to that effect.” He waved his hand nonchalantly and continued.

“Our intelligence unit has informed us that there is a fruitful uranium mine far out into Zone 7 that has incredible potential. We would build a base nearby to house Better Living Industries staff and mine workers recruited to harvest the materials for us. Of course, that would mean living out in Zone 7 for the remainder of one’s days or until the project, should it be necessary, is halted. We need someone dedicated, honest and fully committed to Better Living Industries and what it stands for to be the head of this operation and run the base in whatever way he sees fit. As long as it adheres to standard, of course.”

His eyes were shining. Ray’s mouth had gone dry as he tried to process what Dr. Murtaugh was telling him.

He pointed at himself. “And you want me to…?”

Murtaugh continued to smile. “The position is yours if you want it. You have proven how dedicated you are to the organization’s mission and values. You would be a fantastic asset. We would supply you with your own mercenaries for aiding in recruitment, set up a monthly meeting schedule, your targets to hit, things like that. How you operate in other ways would be up to you. We trust your judgement after all.” He had a slight edge to his voice, as if wanting to emphasize an underlying threat to his words: _do things your way but don’t even think about crossing us in any capacity_.

Ray briefly chewed on a thumbnail as he weighed his options. This was better than any promotion he could have possibly imagined. But was he ready for this level of responsibility? He knew he could carry out the vision of Better Living Industries with his eyes closed. And the idea of wielding that power over so many people made his fingers twitch with temptation. Murtaugh looked at him expectantly, a small smile still playing on his lips.

“I’ll do it,” Ray responded, his head suddenly feeling light as he saw his new future stretch out in front of him.

Murtaugh beamed. “Wonderful. You start right now. Pack your things.”

***

Ray felt the fear strike his nerves for a moment as he exited the helicopter and stared at the vast stretches of empty desert that surrounded him. Other than a few cacti that dotted the expanses of sand laid out before him, there was absolutely nothing.

 _This is my new home_ , he thought to himself, trying to muster up the excitement inside him that he knew was there. He had been given this incredible gift of an opportunity and he would embrace it with everything he had. But at this moment, faced with miles upon miles of sand and nothing else, Ray mostly just felt blank.

He threw a glance behind him as the copters began to slowly lower down the building materials that would become his mining base. He would have a sleek new office just for him. He would have control over every other human being inside of it. He would welcome higher ups from Better Living Industries monthly to marvel at how successful he was at his new job. Ray’s skin began to tingle at the anticipation slowly grew inside of him. He could do this. He could really do this. A smile began to tug at his lips as the piles of steel and stone that were to be his fortress, a physical embodiment of his superiority, grew taller. Workers began to sift through the materials to begin the building process. Better Living Industries had sent hundreds of men and droids so that at least half of the base would be built before nightfall. The operations had to begin as quickly as possible and they wasted no expense making that happen.

Ray’s smile had fully formed on his face as his eyes swept hungrily over the masses of people who were constructing this massive building just for him. What had he been worried about? This was going to be the greatest achievement of his entire existence.


	11. CHAPTER 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all, hope you enjoy this update :) We're getting into some intense territory!

#  CHAPTER 10 

Gerard was standing in the middle of the barracks when the workers returned from work a couple of days later. He had his hands clasped behind his back and was standing as if he were trying to elongate his spinal cord. The corner of his mouth twitched for a brief second when he saw Frank come into the space, chatting quietly with Mikey. He cursed himself and cleared his throat, trying to convey an air of authority to the mass of people in the room.

A few workers lowered their heads anxiously as they walked past him to their respective areas, but Frank and Mikey remained close to the entrance where they had come in, setting up in their usual spaces to unwind before dinner.

Gerard strode briskly over to where they were taking off their shoes and once again made his presence known with a cough. Frank and Mikey looked up at him, Mikey with curiosity and Frank with a raised eyebrow.

“Frank,” he said stiffly, “I need to take you to the infirmary. We need to make sure that your leg wound is healing properly.”

Frank looked at Mikey who just shrugged. “Yeah, that makes sense,” he offered. “It’ll be okay, dude. I’m sure everything is fine.”

“Alright. Lead the way, I guess,” Frank responded, sweeping his arm out in front of him.

Nodding, Gerard turned on his heel and led Frank down the empty corridor, away from the barracks and towards the main quarters. His palms felt sweaty and he fought the urge to wipe them down on his pants, fearing Frank might sense his nerves. He mentally cursed himself, trying to shake off the tiny swarm of butterflies that had began fluttering at the bottom of his stomach.

Reaching down and turning the knob on the infirmary’s door, Gerard steadied his hand and straightened up. He was nervous around Frank. This was a problem. He had a job to do and whatever foreign feelings that had begun to blossom in him had to be pushed out of him completely. Inside the room, Gerard gestured to the small cot that he had Frank on for the first time only about a week earlier. He couldn’t fathom that it had happened so recently and not a lifetime ago, like it felt.

Frank hoisted himself up onto the cot and looked expectantly at Gerard who hovered towards the far end of the room, fumbling around with the medical supplies, stalling to have more time alone with him. He fought with the small ache that formed in his chest when he came to the realization that after this small appointment, he wasn’t sure if he would get any more time to be alone with Frank. Being in his presence was comforting. He knew that what he was feeling wasn’t right but that didn’t stop the tingling that started in his fingers and spread across his body when he and Frank would catch each others’ eyes. He felt idiotic. He felt confused. He felt warm around Frank. He felt a magnetic pull to him that he didn’t remember ever feeling before in his life. He was dizzy with the speed that his mind was racing, bouncing back and forth between savouring these new, exciting sensations and violently burying them beneath his feet.

Gerard moved towards Frank cautiously, trying to strike a balance between authority figure and familiar presence. It was a difficult line to toe. Frank swung his legs lazily while he waited for Gerard to say something. It was then that the reality that he would need to ask Frank to take his pants off to see the wound struck him. Gerard sucked in a breath sharply.

“Frank, I need you to take your pants off so I can see the wound,” Gerard said, his voice pitching at the end.

“Oh. Yeah. Let me just…” Frank trailed off as he fumbled with his belt and began to peel off his dirt-encrusted pants, stopping just above the knees so the wound was visible.

Leaning in closer, Gerard examined the bruising that coloured the outline of scabs that had formed where the bloody gash once was. It looked like it was still causing Frank some discomfort, but nowhere near as badly as it had been. The unafflicted skin that spread out beyond the wound was pale and soft. Gerard was overcome by the urge just to trace over both the injury and the skin surrounding it, to have physical contact with Frank. He cleared his throat and let his index and middle finger glide over the area, mesmerized, feeling the fluttering in his stomach intensity. Frank was completely still and holding his breath as he watched Gerard gently touch the area that had been the source of such pain only days ago. He had the feeling that Gerard had already examined the wound enough but he was surprised to find that he didn’t mind him still touching his skin. His cheeks burned as his eyes remained transfixed on Gerard’s hand on his thigh.

Gerard looked up and noticed Frank’s gaze was completely fixed on the area where his hand had made contact. This was the first time they were so close without a door separating them. Frank really noticed Gerard’s face then. His hazel eyes were tired, worn out, almost sad. From far away, Frank had always thought that his face appeared stern and unfeeling. Now, he saw that was the furthest thing from the truth. He saw pain, and he saw too many years of anxiety, fear and uncertainty. He felt a pang of guilt surge through him as he concluded that he had been wrong about Gerard for as long as he had known who he was. Of course, Mikey had positive things to say about Gerard and often vouched for his character, but Frank brushed that off as some strange bout of Stockholm Syndrome that Mikey had from being in this place for too long. But now, he saw. He saw the scared kid who had blindly stumbled through this wasteland after losing both of his parents. He saw someone who had done whatever it took to survive, even if it meant working for an evil man who manipulated and belittled him. He saw himself.

Clearing his throat, Gerard stood up and awkwardly wrung his hands out in front of him. He felt lightheaded so he sat down in the folding chair set up near the door, dropping his head into his clasped fingers. Frank didn’t move from his place on the cot, watching Gerard intently. He wished he had any idea what to say, but his brain just felt staticky.

“Gerard,” Frank whispered, so quietly he barely heard the words come out of his own mouth.

He looked up from his chair, the pain in his eyes amplified.

“I’m sorry if that was weird, Frank. I just felt like…” he trailed off and made gestures with his hands, trying to communicate what exactly it was that he was feeling. Even he couldn’t make sense of them and he let his hands drop with a frustrated grunt. Frank nodded.

“I know. I...I get it,” he offered, trying to convey to Gerard that he was feeling a flurry of strange emotions himself.

Gerard put his hands on his knees and hoisted himself up, moving to stand near Frank again. He savoured this moment, not knowing when he would be alone with Frank next.

“Your wound is healing just fine. You can get dressed and I’ll take you back to the barracks,” he said softly. Nodding, Frank stood up, re-fastening his belt and standing next to Gerard as he waited for him to open the door back to their reality. He felt disappointment bubble up inside his chest as he was led away from the infirmary.  
***

After dinner, Mikey and Frank sat at a small table playing cards and talking quietly so the guards wouldn’t overhear them.

“So how’s the gash?” Mikey asked, as he picked up an ace of hearts from the pile of cards set between them.

“Healing just fine, apparently.”

Mikey cleared his throat. “You were in there a while. I was starting to get worried that Gerard found it was infected or something.”

Frank’s eyes widened in panic, but he quickly composed himself. It wasn’t quick enough for Mikey not to have noticed.

He raised his eyebrow at him. “Dude, what?”

Frank didn’t want to lie to Mikey. He also was feeling extremely confused and just wanted to get how he was feeling off his chest. He snuck a look over both of his shoulders, making sure none of the guards were within earshot. He lowered himself down close to the table, leaning across so he could whisper to Mikey.

“Gerard and I...there was a moment.”

Mikey’s furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, not understanding what Frank meant. But after a few seconds, his jaw dropped as it clicked.

“What do you mean?”

“Do you remember those couple of nights I was down in solitary? He came to visit me the first night. I guess he was feeling guilty or anxious or something because he came to see if I was okay. And then we just started talking and…” Frank bit his lip. “He came to see me every night after that. We would just talk about anything and...now it’s like I’m feeling things that I definitely shouldn’t be feeling.”

Mikey sat back and ran his hand through his hair, unable to hide his complete surprise. Frank twiddled his fingers nervously, waiting for Mikey to tell him off or tell him he was insane for having confusing feelings for the right-hand man to their captor, of all people. But Mikey just leaned forward, a glint in his eyes.

“What did you guys talk about? This is so...wow, I was not expecting any of this from you.”

Frank chuckled nervously, feeling a blush creeping up his neck. “We just talked about like, our lives before getting here, stuff we would have wanted to accomplish before Better Living Industries was even a blip on our radar, what we would have done differently if the world hadn’t gone to shit. I even told him about…” Frank waved his hand, dismissing his train of thought.

“What? What did you tell him about?” Mikey asked, leaning even closer to Frank, eyes shining with anticipation.

“Nothing, it’s stupid.”

“Dude, come on. If you could tell Gerard, you can definitely tell me.”

Frank sighed. “I don’t even know if it’s real or just some silly story to give people hope. When I was in the desert, before I got captured, I was actually heading towards this rebel base that I had heard about. It was supposed to be somewhere beyond the zones, people who were gearing up to fight back against Better Living Industries.” 

Frank’s eyes grew hard as the memories came back to him. Mikey stared at him, completely unmoving.

“See? I told you it was stupid. Place probably doesn’t exist anyway,” Frank shrugged, shuffling his cards in his hands.

Mikey was silent for a long time before he grabbed Frank’s hand on the table and squeezed it hard. Frank looked up, unsure of what was happening. Mikey’s eyes were like saucers.

“Frank...the rebel base.”

Frank looked at Mikey expectantly, waiting for him to continue.

“Man, before I was captured, that’s where I was heading too.”


	12. CHAPTER 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HIIIII EVERYONE I am so sorry it's taken me two weeks to post! This week has been absolutely hectic and I hardly had time to write! Thank you for waiting patiently :-)

#  CHAPTER 11: MIKEY’S BACKSTORY 

Mikey wiped the beading sweat off his brow before bringing his hand down over his eyes to shield them from the burning sun that was beginning to sink beneath the horizon.

Unable to keep moving with the soreness building in the arches of his feet, he threw a glance over his shoulder to his companions trailing behind him. They halted, waiting for him to speak.

“I think this is as good a place as any to stop for today. My feet are killing me and we’re getting low on supplies,” Mikey shouted, as murmurs of agreement rose up from the five others behind him.

He led them over to a clearing that was hidden away by shrubbery and rock crags, deciding this would be their home for the night.

“Let’s finish up what we have for the night and tomorrow in the morning, I’ll see what I can get for us around here,” Mikey stated, met again with sounds of accord from the group. 

They saw him as their leader; he saw himself more as a protector and guiding star for the conglomerate of fellow rebel-minded people headed towards the same destination. A ragtag team wanting to face up against evil, fists raised to the big bad wolf who had the world as they knew it squashed under its thumb. More of those who had had enough of staring into the face of deception and brainwashing without doing anything about it. And so here they were, drudging along towards a rebel base whose origins they had learned of through their radio waves, the gruff voice of Dr. Death Defying urging them on towards their shot at salvation.

Mikey sighed, settling down in a shady area that was covered by an outcropping of boulders. His stomach gurgled softly with hunger, but he remained steadfast in just attempting to get some rest. The food could wait until the morning. Mikey was an early riser, usually up at the first crack of sunlight to warm the sky. It would be the next day before he knew it. He nestled his head into a groove in his backpack, keeping his eyes trained on his companions who had begun to settle down into their meager blankets nearby. When he was sure that they were drifting off, Mikey allowed himself to close his eyes, breathing in the hot, dusty scent of the world around him.  
***

Morning came quickly, like he knew it would. The sun had only just begun to rear its head over the mountain tops in the distance, illuminating the sky and throwing shades of light blue, orange, and pink across it. Mikey stretched his aching limbs briefly and stood up, not wanting to waste any precious daylight.

He stepped over his still-sleeping companions, grabbing a couple of used plastic bags from one of their backpacks, and two water canisters. He didn’t think he’d be able to fill them up completely, but he wanted to remain optimistic. He fastened a small piece of blue felt that they always kept handy to one of the womens’, Mariah, backpacks, indicating that he was out scavenging and would be back soon.

After a couple of hours, he felt satisfied with his haul. He had managed to dig up enough water to fill up one canister and a half, some edible plants, and a couple of ground squirrels. With his compass in hand, he trekked back towards the camp, ready to report on his generous findings to the rest of the crew.

It took Mikey a minute to register that where his sleeping crew and their supplies once were, now there was only empty space amplified by the grooves and dips in the sand where their bodies lay just hours before.

In his confusion, Mikey stood there wondering if they had waited for him to leave for the morning before deciding to abandon him and their mission. If they had decided to give up or worse, if they decided they were still going to attempt to find the rebel base and leave him behind. Panic rose up in his chest before he quickly deemed that theory implausible. They had many opportunities to leave him before, why would they choose now to do it? And why do it at all? The pieces of that puzzle didn’t fit together, and Mikey immediately pushed that thought from his mind as he scrambled to come up with some other explanation. 

A faint rumbling sound in the distance pulled Mikey out from inside his head and back to reality. At first, he was sure he was only imagining it. It sounded like an engine being brought to life, or some kind of machinery being booted up. When was the last time he had drank water, or eaten anything? His nutrient-deprived brain was playing tricks on him, he was sure.

But then there was another rumble, louder this time. Mikey felt the ground shake ever so slightly and the panic flared up in his stomach again. He wasn’t imagining this. Something was happening.

Mikey whipped his head around frantically, his instincts telling him to just hide and wait. He saw a mess of boulders a few feet away that formed a small wall and jogged slowly over, ducking himself behind it and waiting for his heart rate to slow. The odd sounds were coming from somewhere beyond his hiding spot and he cautiously peered out over the top.

The scene that he saw in front of him made absolutely no sense to him. He was sure he had to be dreaming because it was completely misplaced in the reality that he had been living in and grown accustomed to. He saw helicopters, massive sheets of steel, slabs of stone and brick, _people_ mulling around, shouting at each other, gesturing wildly with their hands. His stomach bottomed out as he saw the members of his group in handcuffs surrounded by strange men in black clothing, their hands hovering eagerly over the laser guns in their holsters.

He had to force himself to sink down below the upper edge of the boulder wall, not wanting to take his eyes off his captured friends, but knowing that remaining unseen would be his best chance at freeing them.

_How the hell am I going to pull this off by myself?_ Mikey thought desperately, willing himself to calm his rapid, shaky breathing.

He quickly realized that there wasn’t much he could do to be useful other than intently watching this strange group of people put up this massive structure. Their entire operation seemed to be constructing this huge building. He couldn’t figure out what it was or why they were building it to begin with. At some point, some of the people ushered his friends beyond where he could see them. Stomach twisted with worry, Mikey forced himself to keep watching. He couldn’t dwell on the feelings of worry that had lodged themselves deep inside of him. He couldn’t let them take over, not when there was so much at stake.

Because he refused to peel his eyes away from the bizarre events happening before them, Mikey also found he couldn’t sleep much. He would close his eyes to take power naps, just enough sleep to keep him going so he wouldn’t miss anything. Oddly, it seemed that every time he woke up from his light slumber, the structure had become significantly larger, despite the fact that he didn’t sleep for very long. It was abnormal how fast it was being built, supernatural almost. There wasn’t a huge horde of people who were putting in efforts to construct it, yet it was as if one hundred people were working 24/7 to get it built. Mikey started to question his own sanity, if more days had passed than he had counted. If the heat was taking an irreparable toll on his mental state. He had been rationing his food and water carefully, but his supplies were starting to dwindle and he feared the notion of leaving his post to replenish his stash.

On the third day, Mikey had his eyes dead-set on the structure and people in front of him, the gears in his heading turning as he attempted to figure out how he was going to get to his friends. He didn’t realize a shadow had fallen over him, and a strange man stood fidgeting a few feet away. It was only when the stranger cleared his throat nervously that Mikey toppled over in shock, his hands resting at the sides of his legs as he squinted above him.

A bright red-haired man wearing a blue leather jacket and tight pants stared down at him, his hands fidgeting at his hips. He looked absolutely shaken and Mikey wondered, for what seemed like the thousandth time in the last few days, if he was only dreaming.

“Uh, you. What are you doing here?” the man managed to say, his voice shaking. It seemed like he wanted to sound threatening but he sounded like he might burst into tears if Mikey so much as looked at him funny.

Mikey didn’t know what to say, so he just shrugged his shoulders. _Who is this person?_

“Why are you watching our base being built from behind these rocks?” He almost sounded curious, but then he recomposed himself and drew his eyebrows together comically.

“Why are you building a base in the middle of the desert? What the hell is even going on here?” Mikey shot back.

The man looked sideways, nervously. “My name is Gerard and uh, you’re coming with me.”

“My name is Mikey and no I am definitely not,” he responded, surprised at the defiant tone that escaped from him.

Gerard’s eyes widened, obviously not expecting any pushback from the person he had just cornered. His shoulders slumped but, despite the fear in his eyes, there was a small bit of determination that seemed to flare. He moved his hand, letting it hover quite obviously over the shiny yellow laser gun that was sitting comfortably in a holster on his hips. Mikey flinched slightly as Gerard rested his hand on the weapon.

“Listen, you’re coming with me whether you like it or not. Do you want to do this the easy way or the hard way?” Gerard said in a low voice.

Mikey gingerly lifted his hands and slowly rose to his feet, accepting that there was no way out of this. He wasn’t absolutely certain that Gerard would actually shoot him, but he wasn’t willing to take such a dangerous chance. He seemed the type to shoot Mikey out of sheer panic, if nothing else.

Gerard gestured in front of him, and as they walked, Mikey realized they were headed towards the now newly-built structure. He gaped at it in shock, unbelieving of the fact that it stood completely built before him in such a short period of time. Towers of steel walls, decorations of stone slabs, guards posted at doors that dotted the outside. It was an intimidating building and Mikey was fearful of going inside. But as they approached, he realized that maybe, just maybe his friends were in there too. Maybe that’s where they had been kept over the last couple of days. And in his mind, a plan started to form.

Placing a hand on his shoulder, Gerard guided Mikey inside a massive doorway and led him down dark, imposing corridors. Just when it felt like they were going to end up lost in this maze of halls, Gerard stopped in front of another door. He turned to Mikey, his eyes sympathetic.

“I...I’m really sorry about this.”

Mikey scoffed and shook his head, but allowed himself to be led inside the room. Looking around, he saw a whole bunch of beds, some dressers, but not much else. Then his eyes rested on the group of people at the further end of the room: his crew.

They noticed him immediately but he tried to gesture as discreetly as possible not to say a word to him. He shook his head ever so slightly, fixing his mouth in a straight line and attempting to make a cutting motion with his hand without Gerard noticing. Miraculously, they seemed to get his message and remained quiet. They were also fearful of the few guards that still surrounded them and felt that not speaking was the best option.

While Gerard motioned for the other guards to join him at another end of the room, Mikey whispered from the corner of his mouth to Mariah, who was closest to him.

“We don’t know each other, okay? Our best chance of _ever_ getting out of here is to act like strangers for now.”

Mariah nodded quickly, making sure the guards were still looking away from them.

Mikey spoke again. “When the time is right, we’re getting out of here. I’ll make sure you know when that time is.”

And with that, there was silence.


	13. CHAPTER 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This feels kind of short but there's important shit brewing :)

#  CHAPTER 12 

Frank stared at Mikey, mouth agape and eyes wide. His head spun as he was overwhelmed with the knowledge that he and his new friend had been on the exact same journey long before the two had ever crossed paths themselves. This all had to be for a bigger purpose, for two rebels fighting their way towards the same final destination.

Mikey swivelled around in his seat slowly, locking eyes with another one of the workers across the room. Stealthily, Mikey made some sort of sign with his hands, where he touched his ring finger to his his thumb and tapped it twice. The person across the room made the same gesture back. None of the guards noticed, as they were either out of their line of sight or not looking in their direction at all.

Smiling, Mikey turned back to Frank, who was now slack-jawed.

“That means everything is okay,” Mikey said, a playful tone to his voice.

“Okay, have you been doing that since I got here? Or have I been completely blind this _entire_ time?”

Mikey laughed. “You’re not blind. I’m just really stealthy. Kinda the whole point of this.”

Frank cleared his throat awkwardly before speaking again. “I knew about your capture, by the way. That’s kind of a shitty word to use but... ”

“Yeah? Gee tell you about it?”

Frank nodded solemnly. “He told me when I was down in solitary and he was paying me visits at night. We talked about everything, so it was bound to come up at some point, I guess. I didn’t want to bring it up before because I know how feelings about this place and how we got here can be complicated.”

Mikey raised an eyebrow. “Yeah. Complicated seems like the right word about...feelings here.”

Blood rushed rapidly into Frank’s cheeks as he lowered his head to avert his eyes from Mikey’s. He was confused and embarrassed and felt completely exposed. He knew Mikey wasn’t judging him in the slightest, but he couldn’t help but give into the immediate need to curl up inside himself and tuck these bizarre feelings away where no one else could see them.

As if sensing his discomfort and sudden withdrawal from the conversation, Mikey reached a hand out and grazed it quickly against Frank’s forearm. It was enough to draw his attention without arousing any suspicion from the guards and Frank reluctantly looked at Mikey from underneath his eyelashes.

“Dude, it’s okay. I think it’s kind of sweet actually,” he said, scrunching up his nose in amusement. Frank didn’t seem convinced so Mikey continued to rattle off in a hushed tone.

“Look, it’s definitely complicated. I mean, how’s a romance supposed to blossom in this place under the watchful gazes that surround us every goddamn day. But still, I think it’s nice.”

Frank continued to blush furiously. “Who said anything about romance? I just…I don’t know. One day I hated his guts for bringing me here, and then just a few weeks later, I actually want to be around him? And talking to him again like we did when I was down there? It’s all so…” He trailed off, not even sure himself how to verbalize the chaos that was tumbling around inside his head, clutching at his heart in a completely foreign way.

Offering him a smile, Mikey validated the jumble of words that Frank couldn’t seem to string together to describe how he felt about Gerard. Because really, he did understand. Confusing strings of words that seem to make no sense are sometimes the most telling. “Yeah. It’s so.” Frank smiled gratefully, silently thanking his friend.

“We’ll find a way to clear your head about this whole thing. Gerard is a very powerful man here, after all. I’m sure he can pull a few strings to get you guys alone again.” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Frank laughed and punched Mikey in the shoulder. “Shut up, man.”

Chuckling, Mikey threw down a card. But he wasn’t done speaking yet.

“Frank, this is insane. You were going to the rebel base. I’ve been waiting for a fucking opportunity to open up for us to finally try and get out of this place and keep heading to it. This is a sign, I know it is.”

He looked at Frank expectantly. Sensing what Mikey was implying, Frank felt his stomach tighten with both anxiety and excitement.

“What if it doesn’t even exist? It’s just a myth, Mikey.”

“And what if it does? What do we have to lose, anyway?”

“So you think…”

Mikey leaned over the table again. Frank sucked in a breath as he waited for the words he knew were coming.

“We’re getting the hell out of here, man.”

***

Gerard still felt the buzz on his fingertips from where he had touched Frank’s skin earlier as he trudged towards Ray’s quarters. He tried desperately to let the tingling last as long as it could. He dreaded feeling it fade away since he didn’t know when he would get the opportunity to feel Frank’s porcelain skin again. He shivered, allowing himself to be momentarily immersed in the memory of his skin against Frank’s, the heavy silence that filled the room as they both held their breaths, not wanting to make any sounds that would shatter the fragile force field surrounding them, protecting them from discovery of Ray and his stern mercenaries. The sensation of feeling like they were doing something wrong, something against the rules, their own little secret constantly on the bitter brink of being discovered. Frank hadn’t said a word but Gerard _knew_ he was feeling the same dizziness, the same ache knowing they would eventually have to part and be unsure of when they could share another private moment together. Gerard held onto the dull pain of the empty space where Frank should have been against him, clenching his fist in an attempt to keep the buzzing sensation there forever, never to leave his system as long as he lived.

He shook his head violently as he came up in front of Ray’s door, forcing the cloudy look out of his eyes. Ray couldn’t catch him slipping, not now. Any indication of Gerard being up in the clouds daydreaming would catch immediate reprimand and probably some sort of large-scale investigation that would no doubt expose them. He jostled his hands and swiftly knocked on the door, prompting Ray to call out for him to enter.

Gerard pushed open the door and saw Ray standing in the middle of the room, a massive grin stretched across his face.

“Great news coming from headquarters, Gerard,” Ray said, rubbing his hands together. “Some officials from Better Living are going to be coming by in a couple of weeks.”

Gerard frowned. “Isn’t that really ahead of schedule, sir? We aren’t expecting them to visit again for almost another three weeks, at least.”

Ray rolled his eyes. “Of course, I _know_ that, but there’s a specific reason for their visit. They haven’t told me exactly what it is yet, but I suspect I must be getting some sort of accolade. Maybe some more goddamn help around here. Or maybe a monetary upgrade, considering how wonderfully I’ve been running this base.”

It took everything in Gerard not to burst out laughing. He couldn’t be serious. Not even two weeks ago, Better Living Industries had essentially told Ray to get his shit together and improve things around here, and fast. He was on thin ice and he knew it. How could he be expecting any sort of praise for his management after that disaster? Had he completely forgotten that he had taken out his frustrations on Frank because of it? The idea that Ray’s mind had already erased what he had done to Frank made Gerard’s blood boil. But he stood there silent, nodding as was his duty. He was a coward.

“Yes, sir. Maybe that is what they’re coming here for.”

Ray’s lips curled into a smile, pleased at Gerard’s validation of his suspicions.

“That will be all, Gerard. Please be prepared to welcome Better Living Industries in the next couple of weeks, alright? Now, get out.”

Gerard nodded, all too happy to oblige. His skin was starting to crawl being in the room with Ray, who was still smiling all too widely, blissfully stuck inside his delusions. He turned on his heel and exited, closing the door gently behind him.

He felt compelled to go check in on the workers, but it was getting late. He knew most of them would be climbing into their beds and he didn’t want to frazzle anyone. He also didn’t care to interact with any guards at the moment, and felt the call of his own bed pulling him towards the basement. Truly, he had just wanted to be in the same room as Frank, if only for a few brief minutes. But that could wait.

For now, he would sink into his sheets and let the reminder of the feelings of Frank’s skin against his own wrap him up in drowsy bliss until he eventually collapsed into sleep.


	14. CHAPTER 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a longer one for you, dear readers! Thank you so much for sticking with me through this :) and hey, if you like the story or have anything to say, I would really love to hear some comments! You are all awesome.

#  CHAPTER 13 

There was a new buzz in the air that only Frank and Mikey knew they felt. Even just the day after their conversation about Gerard and the rebel base, both men awoke with a new sense of purpose brewing inside them. They were reluctant to let it spiral into hope; after all, a simple discussion between just the two of them was hardly a concrete plan for a full-blown revolution. But there was something there. A sense of excited urgency stewing inside that they both fought to keep under control until they had a window of opportunity to fully hash out their next steps. They woke up the next morning for work long before the guards stormed in to rouse them from their dreams, Mikey eyeing Frank with a knowing glint in his tired eyes. He knew what it meant. _We’ll talk later._

The day in the mine dragged on. Frank found his mind wandering more often than usual, his head filled to the brim with thoughts of revolution, of freedom, of vindication for the life he believed had been stolen from him. His imagination conjured up some of the most dramatic, outlandish situations. He imagined bringing all of the guards down to their knees, helpless in surrender as he, Mikey, and the rest of the rebels stripped them of their weapons and their dignity, as they had so often done to them. He imagined storming through the bleak corridors of the base, his fingers twitching at the trigger of a stolen ray gun. He imagined kicking down the door to Ray’s quarters, ordering the man to his knees and threateningly pushing the barrel of the gun to his forehead while he pleaded for his life. He imagined smirking coldly at him, knowing he wasn’t going to pull the trigger and kill him himself, but rather just enjoying making him beg for his life. He imagined Gerard coming up behind him, a smile on his face as he moved around Frank to handcuff Ray and leave him for dead. He imagined them both turning around, Gerard’s arm around Frank’s waist as they went to join the others in their escape. He tightened his grip around his pickaxe as he swung it at the uranium-encrusted mine wall in front of him, a burst of thrilling agitation coursing through his blood. Though plans for their escape had yet to take shape, Frank bid the bleak mine walls that surrounded him a premature farewell in his mind. He let his revolution-packed daydreams carry him through the rest of the day until they were given permission to head back to the barracks.

Mikey and Frank set themselves up at their usual card-playing spot after dinner, Frank anxiously shuffling the deck as his fingers trembled with anticipation. He was well-aware of Mikey’s eyes intently fixed on him, waiting for an opportunity when the guards would divert their attention elsewhere and they could begin with their hushed talk of strategies and logistics about their breakout.

Carefully dealing the cards, Frank looked up at Mikey expectantly. He figured he had had much more time to think about escape plans, as they had probably been in the works since the moment he was brought here. The thought of breaking out of the base had never even occurred to Frank before his conversation with Mikey. How strange that a single sentence that he had uttered from his lips thoughtlessly had set this massive wheel in motion. He couldn’t quite fathom how his stint in solitary, seemingly only having affected him - and Gerard - had been the catalyst for such a fragile and important operation to win back their freedom. It was even more difficult to fathom that if he had avoided the subject of what he and Gerard had spoken about, the two of them probably would have sat at this same table tonight conversing about their shitty day in the mine or Frank’s feelings about Gerard. Perhaps the escape plan would have come into effect later, since that had always been Mikey’s goal. But how long would that have taken? Months? Years, maybe?

Mikey cautiously cocked his head, ensuring that the guards weren’t listening to them. Most of them looked bored and as if their thoughts were away in another universe. Others were stationed too far to even hear them. Confirming that the coast was clear, Mikey began to speak in a hushed tone, Frank listening intently.

“First things first, we need to figure out how this is going to go down. Really soon though, I’m gonna have to get the others in on this. You’re gonna have to find some way to make yourself scarce for that.”

Frank frowned. “Why do I need to make myself scarce? I’m gonna need to be in on the plan, too.”

“You will be, obviously. It’s just that I’ve been thinking about this all day and I figure that the guards are going to be really suspicious if they suddenly see us chatting up the rest of the crew out of nowhere, considering we only ever really hang out with each other. It’ll look even more suspicious if I go over to them myself to talk and leave you behind. They’ll definitely think something is up.”

Frank nodded thoughtfully, understanding Mikey’s point. He was right. A sudden change in routine like that would probably set off alarm bells for the guards. They’d probably keep a much closer and more intense eye on them if they thought something was up and then they would never be able to formulate their plans.

“Okay, I see what you mean.”

“We’ve chatted before, back in the days when you weren’t here, but it was obviously casual conversation. I can make it look like that again easily if you aren’t here.”

“And how exactly are we gonna get me out of here in the first place without raising suspicion? That seems like the tougher part.”

Mikey sighed. “I had some time to think about that too. The only thing that would really make sense is to have you fake an injury or something so you can be carted off to the infirmary again. It’s not like you can just hide behind a corner to wait and expect that the guards won’t find you.”

Frank rolled his eyes. “The infirmary again? Hell, I feel like I live there.”

“It’s the only thing that makes sense, Frank. It’s not like we have the ability to just roam wherever we want in here.” Mikey bit his lip again, as if he wanted to say something else but was worried about how Frank would react.

“Spit it out, Mikey.”

“Okay. I think that when we fake your injury or illness or whatever, it needs to be on a day when we know for sure Gerard will be the only one tending to the nursing duties. I think we should get him on board with us.”

Frank’s eyes widened and his fingers stopped moving over his cards. His ears began to ring ever so slightly at the thought of Gerard. He thought back to his daydream earlier in the mines, of him walking out of there with Gerard’s arm tightly secured around his waist.

“I don’t mean to burst your bubble, Mikey, but I really don’t think that Gerard is going to have any part in us revolting and breaking out of here.”

Mikey looked at Frank very seriously. “He’s as much of a prisoner here as we are, Frank. Try not to forget that, okay? I’m sure we can get him on our side. Especially if you’re the one doing the convincing. He can help us better than anyone else can.”

The bright redness crept up Frank’s neck and into his cheeks again. He didn’t remember a time in his life when he would blush so frequently and so violently.

Sighing resignedly, he nodded. Once again, Mikey had proven himself to be the wiser of the two.

“Okay, so attempt to get Gerard on board. What is our actual _plan_ here, though?”

Mikey rubbed his face thoughtfully. “So, obviously not all the details are ironed out yet. And feel free to disagree with me completely on what I’ve come up with so far. But I had an idea that, on the day we decide to do it, we’ll wake up super early in the morning, long before the guards usually come get us. We’ll take shifts staying awake throughout the night so we can monitor the time while still getting some sleep. Then, we’ll wait until the morning guards come to get us and we’ll be prepared at the door. When they come in, we’ll ambush them and steal their weapons. There are more of us than there are of them.”

It was true. In the early months of the base being in operation, Ray would send a whole squad of guards to wake up the workers. But their numbers had grown gradually and once Ray had decided to place more emphasis on morning patrols and was confident enough that the workers wouldn’t try anything against the guards taking them to the mines, he opted to usually only send two of them in the morning.

Mikey continued. “Gerard will find some way to restrain Ray in all of this, we’ll restrain the morning guards whose weapons we steal, and then all we’ll have to do is stay vigilant enough to not run into any others while we make a run for it. And if we do, at least we’ll have a fighting chance with some weapons. We can even grab some other items lying around that we can use as makeshifts to protect ourselves. Gerard will get us out of here since he knows all the codes and has access to stuff that we don’t.” He smiled sheepishly. “Of course, this is just a draft plan.”

Frank found himself staring at Mikey in absolute awe. He really had thought this through. It needed some work to iron out the creases and details but overall, Frank couldn’t see a better way to go about it than this. They needed weapons and they needed Gerard on their side. He was literally the key that would unlock the last portion of the escape plan. Another bout of excitement surged through him.

With a nod, he threw a card onto the pile in front of them on the table.

“Alright. Let’s get this ball rolling then.”

***

They only had to wait a couple of days before they were certain Gerard would be back on infirmary duty. Frank had somehow managed to recall the day when he had put a pickaxe through his thigh, a Wednesday, and kept track of the days now so that when it came Wednesday again, he motioned “all systems go” to Mikey before they headed out to the mines. Mikey nodded his understanding, making mental notes about delivering the plan outline to the rest of the group. He gave one of them another secret hand signal that Frank didn’t understand, making sure no guards were within eyesight, and went on about the day. Frank had gradually become more accustomed to properly performing his tasks in the mines but on that day, his mind couldn’t have been further away from keeping an eye out for large chunks of uranium to dig out of the cave walls. All of his thoughts were once again solely revolving around his rapidly approaching interaction with Gerard.

Upon returning back to the barracks after their shift had wrapped up, Frank geared himself up for feigning an illness. It was now or never, since Mikey had to capitalize on his time away during dinner and the workers’ downtime afterwards. Standing up a little straighter, he took a look around to make sure Mikey was watching and that there were guards around. Most of them were mulling about, observing the workers shedding their work equipment as they prepared to relax for the rest of the evening. Frank then loosened his muscles, allowing his body to crumple to the ground in a fake fainting spell, groaning in performed agony when his body made contact with the hard, cold floor. He let his head loll around, fluttering his eyes as if he were trying to maintain consciousness. He had fallen a little harder than he had expected, and the fresh surge of pain that shot up his lower back made his moans of pain all the more convincing.

“Guards!” he heard Mikey call.

Frank heard a chorus of annoyed grunts and approaching footsteps. He rolled his head so it was facing towards the ceiling, and found himself staring into the exasperated eyes of Mike.

“What now, rookie?” he asked, the annoyance unmistakable in his voice.

Frank huffed, making a show of trying to get himself upright, but collapsed to the floor once again.

“Think I’m dehydrated...my head is so dizzy, I can hardly see straight,” Frank mumbled, letting his head drop into his hands for added effect.

Another sigh from Mark and then he pulled him to his feet in one swift motion. Frank continued to sway, silently praying that his act was convincing enough to have him sent to the infirmary.

“Mikey, take him to the infirmary,” he said through gritted teeth. Mikey obliged and came over to sling Frank’s arm across his shoulder. As he was led away, Frank heard Mark mutter under his breath.

_“Useless. Absolutely unbelievable.”_

Hauling Frank to the door to upkeep the illusion of him being ill, Mikey pushed open the infirmary door and the pair were relieved to see Gerard was already there. At the sound of their entrance, he turned around, raising his eyebrows.

“Frank? Are you okay?” he asked, his heart leaping into his throat when he saw the younger man leaning limply on Mikey.

“I’m okay just...fainting spell. Dehydrated, I guess.”

Gerard patted the cot, motioning for Mikey to bring Frank over so he could examine him.

“I’m gonna go,” Mikey said suddenly. “Can’t be gone too long.”

Gerard nodded his understanding and thanked Mikey for helping Frank get here.

“I’ll take care of him. Don’t worry.”

Mikey exited the small room and let the door shut softly behind him. Frank and Gerard became all too aware that they were alone once again as Gerard began to prep some cold cloths and an IV drip. They were completely silent, one just waiting for the other to speak first. Gerard took his time, his motions as slow as he could possibly make them without being obvious.

Swallowing hard, Frank kicked his feet against the cot, mustering up the courage to say what he had to say next as Gerard began to approach him, a cold cloth in hand that he reached out to gingerly press against Frank’s forehead. He held his gaze for a few seconds before dropping his eyes, his heart crashing violently against his chest the more he looked at him.

“Gerard?”

“Yeah?”

“If you had a chance to get out of here, would you?”

Gerard froze, lifting his eyes again to meet Frank’s. His hand stopped patting at the former’s forehead, as he gently pulled it away to rest at his side. His eyes narrowed in genuine confusion. Such a thought had never really crossed Gerard’s mind before. Of course, the desire to leave the base was embedded deep within his subconscious, but it wasn’t a thought that he actively brought to the forefront. How could he? The base was all he knew now. His life was in the hands of Ray and Better Living Industries. Those were the facts and Gerard never truly questioned them even though his soul ached for another life outside of this grim setting.

“I don’t really understand what you’re asking me,” he replied, somewhat suspiciously.

Frank continued speaking, fully aware that he had gone too far to circle back now.  
“Say you had an opportunity to get out of this place, a really good plan put into place for escaping, a group of good people, including Mikey a-and me...is that something you would go for?”

Gerard took a step backward, unable to fully process the words that Frank was saying to him. It was as if a giant error message had seared itself into his brain.

“Frank, what is this about?” He paused. “Are you even actually sick right now?”

Jumping down from the cot, Frank closed the distance between himself and Gerard. He hesitated for a second before taking the other’s man hand in his own. It was warm, and his fingers curled around Gerard’s instinctively. He heard Gerard gasp softly underneath his breath, not expecting Frank’s touch to have come so easily.

“Can you please keep a secret? I know you have your duties and your loyalties but if you don’t keep this to yourself...lives can be in jeopardy. Mikey’s life. My life.”

Gerard wrestled with the internal conflict raging inside him but the feeling of Frank’s hand grasping his firmly brought him back to his center. He looked at the man in front of him, his bright hazel eyes begging him to be trusted with this information. Slowly, he nodded, not daring to open his mouth. Of course he would keep this secret. Of course he would do it for Frank. The Gerard that he had become over the past couple of years screamed at him from the inside, reminding him of his loyalties to Ray, the man who had saved his life. This base that had been his home. But as he continued to look at Frank, he became certain that none of those things would ever stand a chance against the man in front of him ever again. No previous loyalties he had to anyone else could hold a candle to the to the ties he felt to Frank now.

Breathing hard, Frank forced the next sentences out. “We have a plan in the works. We need to get out of here, find the rebel base. Mikey and I were both going to it when we got caught and brought here. We think it’s a sign, that our meeting can set us back on the path we had been on before. We can get out of here and we want you to come with us. You deserve to be free, we all do.”

Gerard’s head was spinning. He squeezed his eyes shut, forcing the hurricane of questions to settle down for just a second. He couldn’t think straight. For a moment, he was sure he was dreaming. This couldn’t possibly be happening while he was awake.

When he had slowed his breathing back to normal, he opened his eyes and saw a now very anxious-looking Frank standing before him, eyes pleading for answers. In his efforts to calm himself down, he hadn’t noticed that Frank had taken his other hand and was now gently holding both of them in front of him. Electricity shot through his arms and down his spine as he instinctively gave Frank’s hands a squeeze. He held on as long as he possibly could before dropping them, unable to cope being in this small room with such chaos going through his mind. He felt as if he might be the one to faint now. Frank’s eyes flashed with hurt when their hands lost contact. Nausea rose up in Gerard’s stomach.

“Frank, do you really need medical assistance right now?” His voice was strained.

Frank hung his head. 

“No,” he whispered.

Unable to move his feet that now felt like they were permanently cemented to the ground, Gerard continued to stand there in an attempt to pull himself together. He hated that Frank had told him this. He hated that now he had to live with this knowledge that he was going to try and escape the base. He hated that he would have to lie to Ray and hide what he knew every time he saw him.

Truthfully, Gerard really hated the thought of Frank leaving and not being with him when he did so. He felt sick at the mere idea that Frank would leave him alone to rot in this miserable box with nothing but the memories of him left behind. He hated that he knew, without a single fucking doubt in his mind, that he would go wherever Frank asked him to. He hated that he already knew that this decision had already been made for him because doing anything other than going with Frank was something Gerard refused to do.

But he couldn’t vocalize this to him. Not now. Instead, he stepped forward and placed a tender hand on Frank’s shoulder. The former surprised him by taking that hand, and clutching it close to his chest with both of his. Gerard’s knees went weak. He couldn’t talk about this now. He needed time to mull this information over and wrap his head around it.

“I’m gonna take you back now, okay? We’ll...talk.”

“How?”

“I’ll find a way. I promise.”

Frank nodded, knowing it was no use trying to force him to make a decision right that second. Of course it was a big deal. It was huge and it was important. It wasn’t a no from him, which kept the slightest flicker of hope alive in Frank. They had time.


	15. CHAPTER 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I don't know how much I love the descriptions in this chapter but uhhhhh shit goes down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO BEAUTIFUL READERS, so sorry this took so long to update! It's been a busy week! I hope you all enjoy and please leave comments if you do, I love hearing from you :) Much love!

# CHAPTER 14

The rain that has begun to fall signaled a strange day ahead. As long as Gerard had been at the base, he had only ever experienced rain once, maybe twice. It was always light precipitation as was customary for the desert climate, but rain nonetheless.

He now found himself staring out of a large window from a corridor, his hands clasped behind his back as he was mesmerized by the gentle drizzle and grey skies that had befallen their surroundings. The base was utterly quiet, as the workers were still out for the day and Ray was busying himself in his quarters, demanding that he “not be disturbed” before the Better Living Industries people arrived.

As he basked in the stillness around him, observing the weather outside, Gerard could only think of Frank and their interaction in the infirmary. He should have been enjoying this rare moment that he got to be with himself, enjoying the scarce spectacle outside the window that reminded him that there was still a world out there that moved forward every single day, even though life at the base felt as though it was eternally cemented still with routine and misery. And yet here he was, breathing hitched in his throat, knees weak as he recalled how Frank had looked with Gerard’s hands clasped in his against his chest.

Truthfully, Gerard was utterly terrified. He was angry at Frank, and angry at Mikey for that matter, for telling him about their plans to escape the base. He was angry that they would be so reckless as to put their fragile lives in danger. He remembered looking into Frank’s eyes, seeing the fire of quiet determination that blazed there as he had held Gerard’s gaze and told him to escape with them. Frank wanted Gerard to escape with him. He wanted him to be free, to roam the wilderness with him. The corner of his mouth twitched at the thought. How could he be angry with them for wanting to fight for their freedom? How could he be angry at the idea of all of them breaking the chains that their oppressors had slapped on them? And yet he was. He was angry because he was terrified. He was angry because he felt like a coward. He was angry because Frank had reached a hand out to him, a hand with the promise of revolution and Gerard did nothing but recoil in anxiety when all he wanted was to grasp that hand and walk into the fire with him.

With a soft, bitter laugh to himself, Gerard wondered when the last time he had gotten a good night’s rest was. Or when his mind had last been quiet. Ever since Frank’s arrival, Gerard’s stale life at the base had been completely warped. He felt as though he were constantly shrouded in chaos and anxiety. He also knew he had never felt more alive than he had in the last few weeks since he had known Frank.

_He’s going to be your downfall._

Gerard sighed.

_And you wouldn’t have it any other way, would you?_

He was quickly snapped out of his internal dialogue by the faint sound of helicopter wings cutting through the air outside. Straightening up and flattening down his messy red hair, Gerard walked briskly to Ray’s quarters, hesitating before giving a soft knock at the closed door.

“What?” Ray quipped in an annoyed tone from behind the door.

“Sir, the Better Living Industries people will be here soon. I heard a helicopter in the distance.”

He heard the sound of papers shuffling and a chair scraping against the wooden floor, then quick footsteps as Ray threw the door open, giving Gerard a hard stare.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Go on and greet them.”

Gerard was puzzled. “You would like for me to go alone?”

Ray rubbed his face roughly, eyes slightly wilder than usual. “Yes, Gerard, that is _exactly_ what I would like. I need to look productive, I need to look busy.” He scowled. “Why am I even explaining this to you? You do as I say, and you don’t question me.” With that, he slammed the door in his face.

Gerard’s cheeks burned in frustration and embarrassment as he swiftly turned on his heel and walked towards the main entrance of the base where he would need to greet their visitors. It was rare that Ray left him alone to do so as he usually liked to make a grand impression the second anyone stepped foot in his precious base and he felt the nerves making his skin prickle. He never enjoyed being left alone with Better Living Industries.

His footsteps echoed down the hall as he would slow down hesitantly to work up his nerve, and then consequently speed up in order to get the ordeal over with more quickly. By the time he reached the door, he was slightly out of breath and he worried that his face would be flushed. He once again patted his hair down nervously as he swung open the door just in time to see a man and a woman in business attire, sporting the usual Better Living Industries logo pin on their lapels, walking up the now-damp sandy walkway to the main entrance of the base. Gerard noted that he had never seen these particular people before, but didn’t think much of it.

He offered them what he hoped was a warm smile. They gave him small, polite ones in return.

“Good afternoon. My name is Gerard. I can take you up to see commander Toro now. Please, follow me right this way.”

He turned his back on them and made a face. He detested his fake hospitality voice and hoped he wouldn’t have to use it again. Luckily, the man and woman didn’t say a word as Gerard led them up to Ray’s quarters.

He knocked on the door once again, and heard a pleasant “Come in” from behind the door. He opened it to see Ray sitting at the table in the middle of the room, his hands folded neatly on the tabletop. He smelled fresh coffee brewing and made a mental note to pour some for everyone.

“Welcome. Please, have a seat.”

The Better Living Industries people sat as Gerard went to the coffee pot and poured out four cups. Placing them in front of everyone, he then took his own seat and waited for the meeting to begin. He wrapped his hands around his coffee mug, letting the warmth soothe him.

“Thank you, Gerard. Now, let’s get to business straight away. My name is Linda and this is Francis. We have something from Better Living Industries to show you today.”

Linda reached down into the briefcase that she had leaned on her chair leg and produced a shiny silver disk. It was about the size of a small meal plate. In the middle was a smaller white circle, and there were two buttons along its edge, one green and one blue.

Ray raised an eyebrow as he waited for an explanation.

“This is a new product developed by Better Living called the Cylinder. It’s quite a handy device as it allows food and water to be produced from it with just the push of a button.”

Francis smiled sheepishly. “It’s not quite _that_ simple. You do need a molecule of whatever it is that you want to reproduce and then the device does the rest. Allow us to demonstrate.”

He pulled a small baggie from the front pocket of his suit and examined it.

“In this baggie are potato molecules. They can be saved from just any old potato and you don’t need much, about two grains of sand’s worth. So anyone can save a tiny bit left over of whatever it is they want to produce and it will be enough. You tap the white circle in the center with your finger and a little chamber will arise from it where you can add the molecules and once you do, a larger chamber will bottom out from the disk, where the product will be stored and produced in about ten minutes or so. You need to tap the green button for food, and the blue one for water.”

He tapped the white circle and sure enough, a little chamber arose and Francis sprinkled a few molecules of potato into it. Gerard watched in wide-eyed amazement as another, larger chamber grew out from the bottom of the desk, the device now looking like a transparent cookie jar. Then he pressed the green button on the outer rim of the white circle.

Linda tapped the transparent chamber. “This is where the product will grow. It fills up the chamber completely, no matter how much you put into it. So you will always have as much as the chamber allows. It’s quite simple, really. And extremely efficient.”

They all watched as small potatoes began to sprout like pure magic in the chamber. It was truly like a trick. Gerard wouldn’t have believed it if he hadn’t been witnessing it for himself. The potatoes were growing out of nowhere all thanks to some molecules that were barely even visible to the naked human eye. It was astonishing.

Ray looked spellbound himself but tore his eyes away from the device in front of him to look at Linda and Francis.

“This is truly remarkable but...why did this warrant a meeting from Better Living Industries at my base?”

“Headquarters wanted us to deliver these to you for a specific purpose. In our helicopter, there are about 20 of these devices. Simply put, Better Living Industries wants to relieve themselves of the hassle of constantly having to bring along a monthly shipment of food and water for the people here every time they come for a meeting. It was unanimously decided that giving you the tools to grow your own food and produce your own water would be much more beneficial. We have also brought along some starter molecules for the usual food items that Better Living provides for you. You will need to save the rest yourself once you have begun producing your own.”

Gerard couldn’t help but feel slightly excited about this. They could grow their own food and watch this strange miracle unfold in front of them every day. Regardless of the fact that the device was only made possible by Better Living Industries, he was anticipating being able to tend to this bizarre garden every day.

Ray didn’t seem overly enthused but he nodded his head in understanding.

“Well, thank you for taking the time to come around and explain how the device works for us. If we have any questions, are we able to call headquarters?”

Linda pulled a business card of her briefcase and handed it to Ray.

“Any questions and you can contact myself or Francis at our department directly.”

“And you said there were more devices being brought here?”

“Yes. We have some of our guys loading the box in right now. We actually had them use the entrance from the barracks as it’s closer to the kitchen and would be less of a hassle. Would we be able to exit from there as well?”

Nodding, Ray ushered them out of the room, mumbling in conversation as he escorted them. Gerard followed behind but kept a reasonable distance. Ray was clenching his fist behind his back, a telltale sign that he was feeling irritable but didn’t want to make it obvious. Gerard guessed he was upset that Better Living Industries hadn’t come all the way here today to shower him with praise like he had thought they would. Linda and Francis both briefly paused to insist on getting a small tour of the base, as they had never visited before then. Ray seemed to perk up slightly at this, clearly eager for an opportunity to boast about his beautifully-run facility. Gerard followed reluctantly, unable to leave Ray’s side for more than five minutes and give him the unsightly appearance of not having his aide at his beck and call.

The tour took longer than Gerard had expected and he assumed that the workers would soon be wrapping up their day by the time they began to escort Linda and Francis out. They had mentioned that their helicopter was still stationed closer to the barracks entrance and requested to leave from there so they wouldn’t have to walk outside in the continued rainfall for too long. Ray pulled Gerard aside and whispered that he would be heading back to his quarters.

“Please escort our guests out. Gerard. I’m quite busy so I need to get back to my office.”

Gerard nodded stiffly. “Of course, sir.”

Ray gave him a hard pat on the back as Gerard began leading the other two away, Linda holding her cell phone up to her ear seemingly communicating with whoever had dropped off the devices at the base to confirm the delivery.

They walked into the barracks as the door was being opened by the guards, ushering in the tired and dirty workers. They murmured quietly amongst themselves, shooting curious glances at Linda and Francis as they filed in. Gerard caught sight of Frank and Mikey somewhere in the middle of the herd and his stomach fluttered.

The giddy feeling didn’t last long, however. From where he was standing, Gerard noticed Frank’s body freeze, as if he had been zapped by a paralyzing laser. His eyes grew wide and his hands trembled violently. Mikey noticed as well and gave Frank a puzzled glance. He couldn’t hear them from where he was standing at that moment, but Gerard was able to read Mikey’s lips clearly.

_“Frank? What’s wrong?”_

Frank didn’t respond. He didn’t look like he was breathing. His face had gone pale and he stumbled as he attempted to stop himself from collapsing. Gerard looked around in a panic, hoping that no one was seeing Frank apparently having a meltdown. He was still further away from him and the Better Living Industries employees, but they were fast approaching. They got closer to where Frank stood, and Gerard’s heart dropped as he saw Frank lunge out of the group to grasp Linda’s forearm. She looked at him, startled and confused. Gerard froze completely, unable to do anything. He felt his head go faint as Frank uttered a single word.

“Mom?”

Linda continued to stare at Frank strangely, her lips slightly curled in disgust at his dirty hand on her clean navy blue blazer. She attempted to shake him off gently but firmly, repeating “I’m sorry, I have no idea who you are'' while Frank continued to gawk at her, his eyes glazing over with tears threatening to expose themselves. Gerard attempted to tell Frank to let go of Linda but only a pathetic squeak escaped his lips. Frank let his hands drop weakly and quickly turned to Francis, saying “Dad? Dad, it’s me!” Francis also stared at Frank like he was an unstable lunatic. Gerard could hear his heart breaking right there.

It was over as quickly as it had started. Linda and Francis backed away from the now almost completely hysterical Frank towards the door where another Better Living employee awaited them. Guards were starting to look over now, glaring at him. Mikey was trying desperately to quiet him but he was barely being contained. Frank knew without a shadow of a doubt that the Better Living Industries people were his parents. They were more clean cut and slightly thinner since the last time he saw them, but it was them. And seeing them again, like this, sent him mentally spiralling in ways he didn’t know were possible. He sucked in deep breaths, trying not to choke on sobs and compose himself as he watched his parents depart; leaving him yet again.

Why didn’t his mother and father recognize him? Why didn’t they know who he was? These questions taunted him as he attempted to regain his composure. Gerard stood by, watching, trying desperately to restrain himself from running over there and wrapping Frank in his embrace as he received yet another slap in the face from this cruel life. Mikey was trying to help, shushing comforting words to Frank but he was like a brick wall.

One of the guards, Dan, crossed the room towards Gerard and scowled in Frank’s direction.

“If you don’t do something about this, I’ll make sure the commander finds out. Make him stop, it’s embarrassing,” he said coldly. Gerard had to resist the frightening urge to turn around and punch him in the jaw. Instead, he turned and fixed Dan with the hardest stare he could muster. His fist clenched at his side.

“You don’t give me orders, Dan. Don’t forget your place here. It’s below me,” Gerard growled.

Dan took a small step back, surprised by Gerard’s reaction. He made an angry face at him then turned and stomped off.

Gerard crossed over to Frank, who seemed to calm down a little bit with the help of Mikey’s presence and words of encouragement. He still looked shell shocked but at least the tears had stopped flowing from his eyes. Gerard reached out a gentle hand to place on Frank’s shoulder, but he turned his body away. He was ashamed. He didn’t want Gerard to see him looking so weak and pathetic. A blubbering mess. A kid who had been abandoned by his parents who now had no idea who he was. Didn’t care that he was alive.

“Gerard, please just...go,” Frank whispered. He dragged his feet towards his small bed and collapsed on top of it, unmoving. His dead eyes stared ahead, vacant.

The ache travelled all through Gerard’s body. There was nothing on earth he wanted to do at that moment more than to go and wrap Frank in his arms, and holding himself back from doing so was agony. He wanted to stroke his hair and console him. Let him cry on his shoulder. But not here. Not now - he couldn’t. He swallowed down the lump in his throat, forcing himself to look away from the broken man.

“Mikey please…” Gerard forced out. “Please be with him tonight. Don’t let him leave your sight.”

His eyes still wide with shock, Mikey nodded. “Of course, Gee. He won’t be going anywhere without me.”

He hesitated as Gerard waited for him to speak. Finally, he said:

“Please find some way to be with him soon. Just the two of you. I think he needs it now more than ever.”

“I promise you, I will. I’ll keep you in the know. I have...something of a plan.”

With that, he walked away, unable to bear looking at Frank for a moment longer. He knew he was leaving him in good hands with Mikey but that fact did nothing to quell the pain in Gerard’s chest.

As he rounded the corner to head back to his quarters, Gerard began to formulate another plan in his head to get himself and Frank alone.


	16. CHAPTER 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO READERS I had a ton of time to write this weekend because of social distancing so here's the next chapter! Hope you all enjoy and thank you for being here :)

#  CHAPTER 15 

It was odd that Gerard saw Ray as little as he did in the last few days. Since the Better Living Industries visit with Francis and Linda, he had left his quarters only a handful of times to do some distracted patrolling of the base. Gerard was both relieved and afraid. Relieved because it would make his plan for meeting with Frank a little easier without Ray watching over them like a hawk, and afraid because this was utterly out of character for him. It was unnerving to watch Ray go from controlling, overbearing, and ruling with an iron fist to isolated and distracted. The unpredictability of the situation sent some alarm bells off in Gerard’s head. It was permeating into the base as a whole. He had noticed a shift in the atmosphere where the guards seemed much more slack in their operations. They still conducted their morning and nightly patrols but they were unmotivated, they were lazy. When they rounded up the workers for their day, they seemed distracted and uninterested. When the nucleus began to rupture, it created a domino effect, apparently.

Despite his concerns about this unfamiliar environment they had all now found themselves in, Gerard was taking advantage of the opportunity to propel his actions forward. Less scrutiny and less watchful eyes meant that he actually had a shot at getting away with having Frank to himself for a while. It was hard enough to accomplish what he wanted to do in a place where there was literally nowhere else to go but within the base walls, but he had the advantage of being in the know and having access to parts of the base that many others did not. It still presented its challenges, but the window of opportunity was there. He just had to take it.

The added introduction of the Cylinder into the base had also added a new facet to his plan. One evening, when the workers had come back in but dinner had yet to be served, he whisked Mikey away to the kitchen under the pretense of showing him how to use the Cylinder in the event that they needed extra hands on deck to help grow more food. After all, he couldn’t shoulder the responsibility all by himself. It wasn’t a total lie, but it wasn’t too urgent of a matter. Gerard led Mikey to the kitchen, away from the eyes of the few cooks working, towards the stash of Cylinders. He mumbled a demonstration, and as the cooks returned to ignoring them, Gerard immediately launched into what he had actually called Mikey there for.

“Are you up for helping me out with seeing Frank?” he whispered, fumbling with the Cylinder, still trying to maintain his ruse.

Mikey perked up at that. “Of course, Gee.”

“It’s a little risky though, are you on board? I mean, I don’t wanna get you in trouble, but there’s no one else I can trust here.”

“I mean, I know you wouldn’t put me at risk if it was that serious. Also man, I’ve been waiting for something to finally happen with you two, after everything Frank has told me.” He paused. “I think you both really need it.”

Gerard smiled shyly. “Yeah I’m...I just can’t stand having him so close and so unable to do anything about it. I have some things I really just need to get off my chest and tell him. Really all I’m gonna need for you to do is keep a watch in case someone is around. I’m planning to do this in the middle of the night so the chances are super low that we’ll get caught but I just need someone to have our backs for a little bit, you know?”

A look of uncertainty crossed Mikey’s face, but the eagerness that he felt for the chance to help his friends overpowered his doubts.

“Yeah, I can definitely handle that, I think. I thought you were gonna ask me to do something way more dangerous.” He chuckled a little nervously.

“It’ll be tonight. I wanna do this as soon as possible because I don’t know how much longer I can take to wait.”

“I’ve got your back, Gee. Yours and Frank’s.”

Gerard resisted the urge to hug him, but he nudged him in the shoulder affectionately.

“Thank you, Mikey,” he whispered.

Mikey nodded, and then cleared his throat.

“Gee, have you given any more thought to what Frank said to you a few days ago? About our plan?” he asked quietly.

His fingers froze over the Cylinder. He avoided Mikey’s gaze, remaining quiet.

“Honestly Mikey, I don’t know. It’s a lot. And more than anything, I don’t want you, or Frank, or anyone else getting hurt. I don’t wanna see what would happen if...if it didn’t end well.”

Mikey’s brows furrowed together. “But Gee, imagine what would happen if it _did_. We would all be free. You would be free, too. Don’t you want that?”

“But then what? What would we even have? There would be a vacuum of power here and Better Living would find out about it, and then what? Who knows what they would do to us if we got caught.”

“There’s a rebel base -”

“But you don’t even know that for sure, Mikey! We’d be wandering the desert, lost, probably with Better Living right on our asses, and we’d have nowhere to hide from them. I can’t see how this doesn’t end badly either way, but the devil you know…”

Mikey shook his head. “Any chance at liberty is better than being locked in this goddamn base like animals, like robots. I would rather die out in the desert or at the hands of Better Living than say I didn’t try when the chance was there. With Frank here, and you, I think we have that chance.”

Gerard didn’t know what to say. He had done a good job of blocking out his fears and feelings of anxiety surrounding this situation and now they came pouring in once again. His hands were shaking and he couldn’t speak without feeling the urge to vomit. He hung his head, feeling Mikey’s gaze burning a hole in him.

“I’m just still not sure, Mikey. But I promise I’m thinking about it, okay? It’s just so beyond anything I’ve ever had to think about. I can’t even fathom that this is a possibility.”

Mikey placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. “I understand that Gee, I do. But also, we don’t have the luxury of all the time in the world here, we need to do this soon, and I _know_ deep down that this is what you want. You don’t belong here, and you’ve always known that. We need you on our side to have any kind of chance at this.”

The cooks had begun looking curiously in their direction again. Mikey backed off, and told Gerard he should go before their suspicions were raised even more.

“I’ll see you tonight, okay?”

Gerard nodded, watching as Mikey’s back retreated towards the barracks.

***  
Gerard sat on his bed, waiting impatiently for more time to pass before he could make his way upstairs. The time on his bedside clock read 1:47 AM. He jiggled his leg anxiously, giving himself three more minutes before he would get up and make his way to the barracks. He knew that Ray and the guards had gone to bed in their respective quarters some time ago, but he wanted to be sure that they were sound asleep before heading up. He told Mikey to expect him before 2:00, so he had to get moving soon. He had no way of knowing if Mikey had already told Frank that Gerard was coming to see him tonight, but he hoped that he had. He didn’t want to alarm Frank by taking him by complete surprise.

When those three minutes passed, he took a deep breath and stepped down quietly. He had a small flashlight to help him navigate the inky darkness of the base in the middle of the night. Keeping the setting on low, he ascended the steps quietly, keeping his footing light. He didn’t dare make a sound, breathing as quietly as he could manage.

The tricky part was going to be getting the barracks doors open without making too much noise. The door was extremely heavy, but didn’t creak too much. He just had to be careful not to let it bang against the stone walls when he opened and closed it.

His heart raced as he rounded the corner of the final corridor that led to the barracks. He checked over his shoulder three times and strained his ears for any indication that someone else was around, but there was only the dead silence of the slumbering base. He rolled his shoulders back and braced himself against his nerves. With the utmost caution, he quietly and carefully inserted his key to the barracks into the lock, silently praying that it wouldn’t make too much noise. He heard only the faintest sound of the click as it unlocked, and he released the breath he had been holding. He saw Mikey and Frank’s heads raise from their pillows as he peeked through the small crack in the door he had made. He silently motioned for them to come. They made their way to him and when they were all on the other side of the door, Gerard closed it soundlessly. He grabbed Frank’s hand and jerked his head in the direction he wanted them to follow.

They walked in silence until Gerard brought them in front of a door off another corridor away from the main quarters.

“Not many people use this exit. I think they forget that it exists sometimes,” he said, barely above a whisper. “Mikey, can you hide just behind that corner there and keep watch? No one will come, but just to be safe.”

Mikey nodded and began to walk away before stopping abruptly.

“What do I do if someone actually comes?” he whispered, slightly panicked.

“I’ll leave the door open a crack and if you hear anything, just slip outside with us, okay? I...I’ll come up with some kind of excuse or something. I don’t know. I’ll take the fall for it,” Gerard said weakly, realizing that he hadn’t really thought this plan through despite having endless time to do so. He had been so excited about the prospect of being alone with Frank again that he had foolishly thought everything would go over without a hitch. He briefly considered just bringing Mikey back to the barracks but it felt even more dangerous to backtrack when they had gotten this far already. How stupid and careless could he have been to have brought Mikey into this equation so needlessly?

“Just stay hidden, Mikey. We have the advantage of the darkness in here, so no one will see you anyway, especially if they spot me. Frank, I’ll make sure there’s somewhere out there that you can hide if anything. If it’s just me they find, no one will care. Then I’ll bring you guys back to the barracks from the outside once the coast is clear. I have the keys. It won’t be long, I promise. It’ll be fine.”

Mikey still looked unsure, but he had committed too far to go back now. He nodded roughly, snaking back into the darkness to hide behind a pillar in the corridor. No one would spot him there, he was sure of it.

Gerard steeled his nerves and quietly unlocked the door, still holding Frank’s hand with his free one. He pushed the door open and they were greeted with a chilly breeze from the outside. He guided him out, leaving the door open a crack as promised, and stepped out into the night.

There was nothing but stretches of desert sand and some trees dotting the landscape in front of them, illuminated by the glittering stars and moon above. They were greeted by the sounds of the breeze and the crickets chirping. Frank was in awe of the scene before him, the serenity, the peacefulness. The desert was beautiful when the feeling of the unforgiving sun beating down on their heads was there to distract from it. It was rather cold outside, and Gerard removed his blue leather jacket and draped it over Frank’s shoulders.

“I kept a sweater for myself, so you could have my jacket,” he whispered, giving him a small smile. Frank’s stomach was alive with butterflies.

Gerard motioned in front of them, and took a seat on the sandy ground. Frank came and sat next to him, close enough that their shoulders touched.

“I usually come out here at night when I’m having trouble sleeping and just need fresh air,” he explained.

Frank titled his head up to look at the stars that stretched out above them like a canvas. “The desert is so beautiful at night,” he said quietly.

Once again, Gerard reached over and grabbed Frank’s hand. A small smile appeared on Frank’s face when he did.

“Frankie, are you okay? After, you know…”

Frank scrunched up his nose, remembering the awful encounter with his parents days earlier. He turned to look at Gerard, the rims of his eyelids glistening. Gerard reached up and gently wiped at the single tear that had fallen from Frank’s eye, cupping his head in his hand. Sighing, Frank reached up and placed his hand over Gerard’s, leaning into the sensation of the other’s man skin on his own. All of the cells in his body breathed a sigh of relief at the contact.

“I’m still in shock, I guess? I haven’t really fully processed it. It feels like it was just a distant dream that I must have had, a nightmare from when I was a kid or something.” He trailed off, staring with vacant eyes out at the desert before them.

“But Gerard,” he began again, his face taking on a new look of determination, “I have never been more sure now of our decision to break out of here and find the rebel base. Seeing my parents like that, like...shells of themselves. Shells of who they used to be. The confusion in their eyes when they looked at me, didn’t know who I was. Their own son, their own flesh and blood.” A sob escaped his lips as more tears continued to fall. “Goddamn it, that was all the fuel I needed to take down Better Living. For taking my parents away, making them strangers to me and to themselves. I want to burn Better Living Industries to the ground. I want to take everything away from them, like they did to me.” 

The blood froze in Gerard’s veins. The fire in Frank’s eyes was raging. The anger wasn’t directed at him, he knew that, but it was there and it was growing hotter, more out of control. He knew nothing he said would divert Frank from his decision. He was going to destroy Better Living Industries at all costs. And Gerard knew then, because that was what Frank decided, he was going to be swept up in it too.

He found that all he could do at that moment was nod in understanding. He didn’t fully comprehend the level of pain that Frank was feeling, how could he? But he understood that rage. He understood where the fire came from. His chest hurt seeing the look in Frank’s eyes. “I can’t even imagine the pain you’re feeling, Frankie, honestly. And I’m so fucking sorry that this happened. Better Living really is the most evil corporation that has ever existed and I hate myself for working for them, for being another cog in their selfish, demonic machine. I can’t stand the thought that they took your parents away from you.”

Frank raised his hazel eyes to Gerard’s. Very seriously, he said “I should hate you. I really fucking should, for bringing me here. I should, and yet…”

“Frank, you were probably going to die out there on your own anyway. You were in awful shape the day that I brought you in.” He winced when he said that. He knew Frank had every right to hate him. In his eyes, he had made him a prisoner. But Gerard was right. By that time, Frank couldn’t have had more than a couple of weeks left in him. He had been famished and dehydrated, practically on the brink of death.

“Yeah, that’s why I said I _should_ hate you,” Frank responded. “I should still hate you now, if only for the fact you’re hesitating to help us break out of here. You’re being cowardly and selfish. But fuck, I…the only thing I can think about right now is how goddamn giddy I am to be here with you right now. I feel like an idiot. I feel like a traitor to myself and everyone else here.”

He held his gaze, his irises boring holes into Gerard’s. Gerard practically stopped breathing.

“Tell me I’m not an idiot for feeling this way, Gee,” Frank whispered.

He felt no need to respond with words because no words that his brain could muster would be enough. Continuing to hold his gaze, Gerard leaned forward and pressed his lips to Frank’s. Frank’s hand shot up almost instantly to tangle his fingers in Gerard’s hair, pulling him in closer. Both their eyes fluttered closed as they pressed closer together, weeks of tension and desire fuelling their passionate embrace. Gerard didn’t know it was physically possible to feel so electrified. Frank parted his lips slightly, and Gerard leaned into him even more, putting his hand on Frank’s thigh and deepening their kiss. His mind was completely blank, focused only on the desperate feeling of wanting to completely meld with Frank’s body. It felt like they wouldn’t be physically close enough until they consumed each other completely.

Gerard pulled away to catch his breath, keeping his forehead pressed against Frank’s. His hand was still gripping Frank’s thigh, while Frank's hand still rested in the messy fire-red mop atop Gerard’s head.

“I couldn’t stand not being able to do that for even a second longer,” Gerard breathed, feeling Frank shiver beneath him. The moonlight made the whole scene appear dreamlike. Their hearts pounded in unison as they both tried to wrap their heads around the fact that that had really happened.

“I can’t believe this,” Frank said, bringing his hand down to rest it against Gerard’s cheek, tilting his head so they were looking into each other’s eyes.

“You are…” Gerard took a deep breath before continuing. “You are so goddamn defiant. A little bit broken but so resilient, and brave as all hell. I love every single part of you that you’ve allowed me to see.”

His voice broke a bit at the end and Frank stroked his cheek affectionately.

He continued. “Before you came into my life in this...really unfair way, everything here was so goddamn bleak. Like, there was a constant shadow cast over everything. But spending time with you, getting to know you as much as is possible here, it’s like...Frank, I think you’ve truly restored my faith in something better. Something beyond this miserable existence that I haven’t been able to see for such a long time. And I know I sound batshit insane because it hasn’t even been that long but goddamn it I don’t care. I would do anything for you, I’ll follow you anywhere.”

Frank’s eyes widened in anticipation before Gerard kissed him again deeply, trying to convey all the emotion he felt with that one single action. He needed Frank to know that he meant every single word. The feeling of Frank’s lips against his melted every single one of Gerard’s inhibitions away, crumbling the hard shell he had so carefully encased around himself from being at the base. He didn’t know it was possible to feel something like this.

They pulled away again regretfully, Gerard mustering up the nerve to tell Frank that he was on their side. He would do anything to help him, Mikey, and the other rebels. Hell, he would do anything to free himself too. He had tried to squash the urgency of his need to escape here for himself, but now the floodgates had burst wide open. He had never wanted to be here to begin with. He was brought against his will, like all of the others. He had been manipulated, brainwashed, but now that facade was melting away.

He was ready to say all of this to Frank when the sound of a laser gunshot rang out from inside the base behind them.


	17. CHAPTER 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello beautiful readers! I'm so sorry it took me this long to update. Quarantine has had a bigger effect on my mental health than I thought it would and I wanted to make sure this chapter was as good as it could be so I took my time. I hope you enjoy and I hope you are all staying safe out there!

#  CHAPTER 16 

Frank and Gerard did nothing but stare at each other for a few seconds, eyes wide and unblinking. Then they scrambled to their feet quickly, bolting for the door that had been uselessly left open by a mere crack behind them.

“Mikey?” Gerard whispered yelled through the door, hoping against hope that he hadn’t just heard what he thought he had. He didn’t dare make any excessive noise just yet, in case his anxious mind was playing tricks on him.

Quietly stepping through the door, they both froze in their tracks as they observed the scene in front of them. Mikey was standing over a guard whose face was obscured by the darkness, breathing heavily with a gun pointed at him. Blood had begun to pool around his eerily still body that was crumpled on the floor.

“What the _fuck_ happened, Mikey?” Frank whispered weakly, feeling overwhelming nausea begin to take over his body. He reached a hand out to steady himself against a wall, trying hard to look away from the lifeless body on the floor but being unable to. His eyes remained focused on the blood as he took shallow, panicked breaths, swallowing hard to drown the sick feeling in his stomach. Gerard’s mouth hung open, his hands twisted painfully in his bright red hair.

“I-I’m sorry...I don’t…”

Mikey’s hand, still gripping the laser gun, trembled as he slowly lowered his arm. His knuckles were white from the force of his hold on it.

“I heard the footsteps coming and I hid myself, like I was supposed to. I saw his silhouette just kind of lurking around and...and the moonlight was hitting his gun at just the right angle. I don’t know what came over me, just with everything going on, wanting to protect you guys, and everything with the revolt, I just...I saw an opportunity. Right? Holy fuck, I can’t believe what I just did, I… My brain was just shouting at me to do something, to just…” Mikey trailed off, the gravity of what he had just done seemingly setting in. His hand began to shake even more and the gun clattered to the floor, the metallic sound echoing off the walls, making the hairs rise on the backs of all their necks. Gerard jumped back fearfully, pure panic coursing through his veins. He grabbed both Frank and Mikey by their sleeves and began to run down the corridor, away from the grisly scene, away from the corpse whose life had now surely drained away.

They reached the end of the corridor and rounded a corner, where Gerard stopped suddenly, making Frank and Mikey trip over their feet. He swivelled and gripped Mikey tightly by the shoulders. His eyes were wide with alarm, hysteria taking over him.

“How are we supposed to come back from this, Mikey? How am I supposed to protect you now?” he choked out. Images of the guard’s collapsed body on the floor flashed through his mind, and he squeezed his eyes shut as tightly as he could to try and force them out.

Mikey didn’t know what to say. His lip quivered but his face was oddly calm, fear only slightly tinging his features. His eyes were set, his fists were balled tightly at his sides. Of course Mikey was afraid, but a strange feeling of pride tickled lightly at his stomach. He had really just taken the first step in the revolt. He had killed a guard. It wasn’t in the eye of the storm, in the heat of the action that had yet to start, but he had shown that he had what it took to rise up against his oppressors. He regretted the possibility of it being discovered that it was him who had done it before they could go fully through with their plans. If that happened, he wouldn’t be able to help them when the real fight came knocking at their door. He chastised himself slightly for acting too rashly. He had always prided himself on not acting in the heat of the moment, without prior planning. But tensions had been running higher than he had ever experienced in his life recently. He could taste the thrill of revolution and freedom on the tip of his tongue. He had acted on instinct and he felt that hard to regret, even if it was impulsive.

“I did what I had to do,” Mikey offered in a shaky voice. “Whatever happens next, well…it’ll be what has to happen.”

Sweat had begun to bead excessively in the spot where Frank’s hairline met his forehead. His chest rose and fell so quickly that it ached, his breaths moving in and out of his lungs faster than he could keep up with. The moment that he had shared with Gerard mere moments ago had suddenly been tarnished, marked by the bitter anxiety that he felt thinking about what fate was going to befall Mikey now that he had gone down this path. His breathing came out in quick shaky breaths, unable to quite fill his lungs with the oxygen necessary to keep him calm. He put his hand on Gerard’s arm in an attempt to steady his heart rate and slow his breathing. Gerard looked at him, his eyes wide and fearful, noticing Frank’s distress. He gently took the hand that Frank had placed on his arm and gripped it in his, squeezing it in what he hoped was a consoling gesture. The other he placed on Mikey’s shoulder and again began steering the two in the direction of the barracks, his mouth too dry to even say anything more.

Once they were back in front of the stone door, Gerard gripped Mikey’s upper arms with both of his hands. He stared into his eyes, the man in front of him seemingly so much younger than he actually was. No doubt that years at the base had aged him, the bags under his eyes prominent, cheeks slightly hollow from increased physical activity in the mines and decreased intake of nutrient-rich foods. The space between his brows was wrinkled and his lips were chapped beyond repair. But his frame was strong, suntanned skin stretched taught over his defined muscles and bones that jutted out from his elbows and shoulders. He was a just a boy but with far too many characteristics of a man twice his age. It made Gerard’s heart ache to see the youth having been drained from Mikey’s body. But in his eyes, he saw the hopefulness, the determination, of a young man who had seen far too much, experienced far too much suffering. Too much to let it continue on for any longer. He saw raw perseverance that betrayed the age in the rest of his face.

“Both of you listen to me,” Gerard whispered, not caring that his voice was shaking. “We don’t know anything that happened tonight, alright? When that guard gets discovered tomorrow...you were sleeping. You have no idea what happened, okay?”

Frank hung his head and nodded it solemnly, fighting hard against the tears that were on the verge of spilling from his tired eyes. Mikey gave a short nod himself as well, briefly looking away from Gerard’s intense gaze and biting his lip.

“Go back to bed, I’ll...God, I’ll try to figure something out, okay?” Gerard choked out, grasping fistfuls of his hair in both of his hands and tugging lightly. He unlocked the door quietly again, and watched as Mikey slipped through and tiptoed back to his cot. Frank placed his hand on the door to go back in as well, but turned around to look at Gerard once more with his glassy hazel eyes. Quickly, he leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on Gerard’s lips, reaching up to cup his face. Gerard allowed his guard and his worries to drop for just a moment to savour the taste of Frank’s lips on his, a shiver reverberating through his entire body. And as quickly as it happened, it was over as Frank slipped back behind the door and closed it without a sound.

***

If Gerard had had any hope of getting a wink of sleep that night, it was immediately squashed by the first stream of morning light stretching out lazily across his wrinkled bed sheets.

He was glued to his bed, completely paralyzed by terror. He wasn’t entirely convinced that last night hadn’t been an insane dream. He had professed his feelings to Frank. He had kissed him. Frank had kissed him back. Mikey had killed a guard in the name of their still-budding plans for revolt. How could all of that had happened in the ridiculously short span that it had? None of it seemed real. A product of his stressed out mind overcome with panic, indecision, and worry. And yet, he could still taste Frank’s lips. There wasn’t a single chance that he could have dreamed up the heavenly feeling of their mouths pressed together, his hand gripping Frank’s leg, Frank’s fingers tangled passionately in his hair. And he was supposed to face this day, face Ray, acting like he was clueless, like he had absolutely no idea that there was the bloody corpse of a guard laying in a far-off corridor because of him. This was his fault. He couldn’t evade that fact.

Breathing deeply, slowly, Gerard tried to muster the courage to get up from his bed. Morning patrols had already begun under the supervision of a superior guard. He wondered if the dead guard from last night had been part of the morning group. He wondered if anyone had noticed that he wasn’t there. He wondered if someone may have already found him. He couldn’t wait any longer to find out. He had to get ahead of this and attempt to minimize the damage for Mikey’s sake. For all their sakes.

He pulled on his blue leather jacket, trying to ignore the feeling of his heart wracking painfully against his chest, making breathing normally a difficult task. He fastened his gun into his holster and took a look at himself in his mirror. He looked tired. Exhausted. It was obvious he hadn’t slept at all. He ran a comb through his fiery hair, a bandaid on the gaping wound that was his disheveled appearance. He prayed to any higher power that may or may not have existed that he would look the same in the eyes of everyone at the base.

Ascending the stairs two at a time, Gerard strained his ear to listen for any sound that might indicate the climate of the base upstairs. Was everything proceeding as normal? Was there chaos? Should he go down the hall purposely and “discover” the body and report it to Ray so he wouldn’t suspect that he had anything to do with it? No, that would be potentially throwing a worker or another guard into the meat grinder that was the wrath of Better Living Industries. The body was in a more secluded hallway anyway. It would look suspicious if he found it.

In the end, it turned out Gerard didn’t have to do anything. The second he reached the top of the flight of stairs that connected his bunker to the upper base, he came face-to-face with Ray. His throat seized up but he forced his face with all its might to remain normal. Neutral. Typical Gerard. He willed himself not to fall apart as he took in Ray’s slightly frantic gaze.

“Gerard. I was just coming to wake you up.”

“My apologies, sir. My alarm didn’t go off at its usual time.” He kept his voice even, steady. For Mikey’s sake. For Frank’s sake.

“Did you sleep well? You look tired.” Ray’s eyes remained slightly unstable but the rest of his facial expression remained eerily composed. Gerard shifted his weight uncomfortably, the eyes boring into him making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on edge.

_Stay calm. Stay calm._

“I’m alright, sir. Just one of those nights, I guess.”

Ray nodded and scratched at the stubble on his chin thoughtfully. He threw a glance over his shoulder. Gerard didn’t dare move a muscle.

“Right. I understand. Would you walk with me for a second, please?” His fists clenched and unclenched at his sides as he turned, indicating that Gerard follow him.

“Of course, sir.” He almost asked if something was wrong, but decided against it for fear of giving away any idea that he knew something was amiss.

Gerard’s legs trembled as he walked. The feeling of dread that had begun to form in his gut only increased as he realized that Ray was leading him down the corridors that would eventually have them end up in the one from last night. The one where the body was. As they rounded that last corner that would put them in that specific hallway, Gerard’s heart just about burst from his chest. He swallowed down saliva that had grown thick in his throat. He felt like he was choking. They walked down the corridor, the lonely corpse at the end of the path like an imposing splotch of ink on a piece of bone-white paper. They continued to approach it and Gerard let out a shocked gasp for good measure as it became clear what was lying on the ground.

The two men surrounded the dead body. Ray’s eyebrows were knitted together, his expression unreadable. In the daylight, Gerard saw just how much blood had pooled on the floor. It was the darkest shade of red he had ever seen, the guard’ skin so pale it was practically translucent. He was also able to see that the body of the guard was, in fact, Dan. He felt an odd pang of sadness. The two had never gotten along amazingly well, but he was a constant in Gerard’s life. Someone familiar. Just one day ago, he had been alive and imposing. Now, he was merely a bloody, lifeless husk on a cold floor. Unmoving. Expressionless. He couldn’t take his eyes off the body, no matter how much his brain screamed at him to look away, to erase the image from it.

“Do you know anything about this?” Ray whispered, motioning towards Dan’s body. His fists had clenched again. His voice was frighteningly steady.

Gerard closed his eyes and shook his head, unable to form any words. His voice had lodged in his throat and he struggled to breathe at a normal pace.

Unsatisfied, Ray pulled his pager out of his pocket.

“Bring everyone back. Now.” He said, immediately cutting off any words that would have come from whichever guard was on the other end. Gerard’s head spun, and he planted his feet firmly to stop himself from fainting. This was it. They were going to be found out.

He didn’t utter another word until all of the guards and workers filed into the corridor to see why Ray had called them back from their work day. This had never happened before. He heard gasps of surprise, confused murmuring, guards grunting. He didn’t dare try to meet Frank or Mikey’s eyes. One look and it could all be over.

Stillness settled like dust over the gathered crowd. Silence so complete that one could hear the desert breeze outside if they would only turn their ear in the right direction. Everyone, workers and guards alike, held their breaths as they waited for the person next to them to make even the smallest motion. Ray clasped his hands behind his back and began to circle the body, expectedly glancing at everyone around him every now and then as if the culprit would break down and cry on the spot, revealing himself. Gerard’s head was lowered, and he gazed up at the scene from underneath a mess of hair that had fallen in front of his eyes. He spotted Mikey and Frank somewhere in the middle of the crowd.

“Well?” Ray’s voice echoed off the walls of the corridor surrounding them, bouncing around and reverberating in everyone’s ears. He raised his hands in a gesture indicating that he was impatiently waiting for some sort of explanation. Gerard shifted his weight from left foot to his right. The anticipation and tension in the hall seeped into his bones, making his whole body tingle with unease.

No one budged or made a sound. Everyone was a statue. The guards themselves looked equally as terrified as the workers. Whether it was because they were afraid of Ray or of the fact that there was an apparent guard killer on the loose, Gerard had no idea. When it became clear that no one was going to come forward about the murdered guard, Ray let out a bellow of rage and slammed his fist against the closest wall to him. The crowd collectively flinched and Gerard felt his stomach sink down to his feet. They caught eyes as Ray began to advance towards the horde of people standing frozen with dread before him. His eyes were wide and unblinking, more erratic than Gerard had ever seen them before.

“Someone standing right here around this body, at the scene of their crime, did this. And they will pay and be punished for it. If they themselves don’t want to step forward and admit it,” Ray shrugged, “someone else will suffer their consequences.”

“Sir, is this really necess- ” one of the guards began to say before Ray strided over and towered over him menacingly. The guard shrank down, regret filling his body as he tried to fold in on himself to protect his body from Ray’s wrath.

“Speak against me again and your head will be the first one to feel my gun’s barrel,” he hissed through gritted teeth. The guard made a whimpering noise and nodded his head furiously, eyes averted to the floor.

Frank was becoming more and more nauseous by the second. He dug his fingernails into his thigh discreetly, right above the mass of scar tissue from his pickaxe wound. His toes were curled in his boots, feet clenched in anxiety. He was scared for Mikey. He was scared for himself. Hell, he was even scared for Gerard. It seemed that even he wasn’t shielded from Ray’s rampage.

“So no one, then?” Ray yelled, left eyebrow twitching in fury. “Fine, have it your way.”

Swiftly, Ray stepped towards the crowd and grabbed the first person he could get his hands on by the collar and dragged them forward. Mariah. She made a helpless sound, her face overcome with obvious despair. She knew she had been the unfortunate one to land in the hands of a ruthless man who had clearly lost it.

He turned her around roughly and made her face the body, making sure she had gotten a good look at it. Tears flowed freely down her face and she made no attempt to wipe them away. When Ray was satisfied that he had traumatized her enough, he turned Mariah back around to face him. He placed the barrel of his laser gun to her forehead, right in the center. She let out a defeated sob, the sob of a woman who knew she was facing certain death without anything to save her from it. Gerard brought his hand up to his mouth to stifle a scream. His head felt like it was filled to the brim with cotton, the sounds and objects in front of him fuzzy and incomprehensible. His throat felt like it was being disintegrated with acid. He snuck a look at Frank. He had his hands up to his face, his eyes round circles of helpless terror.

Ray’s grip tightened on the gun’s handle. His finger twitched on the trigger.

“Anyone has anything to say, now is the time,” he said flatly. “Going once, going twice-”

“It was me.”

At the sound of his voice, Gerard froze. He turned his eyes toward the crowd to see Mikey emerging. His voice had sounded afraid but steady. He looked at Ray now with his eyes squinted in what he hoped was defiance and determination. Frank let out a barely audible groan, his fingernails digging into his thigh even harder and deeper.

 _Mikey, please don’t do this. Please don’t do this_ , he repeated in his head over and over again. The lump in his throat felt like lead as he tried to swallow it down. He silently prayed to any higher power that would listen that his friend wouldn’t have to die for his selfishness.

A pleased smile stretched across Ray’s face as he lowered the gun from Mariah’s forehead. He grabbed her roughly and hoisted her to her feet, pushing her back into the crowd. She stumbled and collapsed against the chest of another worker, another rebel, who held her as she sobbed into his shoulder, her chest shaking with unsteady breaths.

Mikey stepped forward, mere inches from Ray. The latter let out a chuckle and clicked his tongue, sizing up the man in front of him.

“So, you’re the one who killed my guard?”

“Yes sir, I did.”

“I won’t even ask why because, frankly, your reasoning is irrelevant. You have betrayed every single person here with your thoughtless actions, and you will pay the price for it.”

The sound of his blood pumping thundered in Mikey’s ears, making it practically impossible for him to focus on the words that were coming out of Ray’s mouth. His legs shook violently beneath him, threatening to crumple and bring him to the floor. He wouldn’t let his face show it, but he had never been more scared in his life. He knew he was probably about to die. But he was going to die for the liberty of his friends. He would be damned if he had let anyone else take the fall for it. What he had done the night before, though reckless and not very well considered, had been in pursuit of a greater good. He had known that drastic measures were needed to break the dam that would flood the base with revolution. If he had to die for his cause, so be it.

He kneeled on the floor without even being prompted, never taking his eyes off Ray’s. The man gave him a look of disgust before positioning the gun to his head. They stayed like that for a few seconds, unmoving, eyes locked together. And then suddenly, with a mischievous grin, Ray withdrew his gun from Mikey’s head.

“Gerard, would you do the honours please?”

The words were a sucker punch to Gerard’s stomach. He gaped at Ray, unsure if he had heard him correctly, unsure if he had properly understood what it was that he had just requested of him.

“Sir?” he replied weakly, the tremors rocking his body. He couldn’t possibly be asking him to kill Mikey.

“You heard me. Do the honours and execute this traitor.”

“S-Surely this isn’t necessary, sir…”

Ray whipped around to face him, eyes burning bright with anger.

“It is necessary because I say it is necessary.”

Gerard put out his hands weakly, stumbling on every word in his attempt to get out of putting a gun to Mikey’s head. He couldn’t do it. He wouldn’t do it.

Ray scoffed at his feeble speech, his obvious discomfort. Gerard felt bile creeping up his throat.

“Come on, Gerard,” Ray cooed. “You’ve done this before, haven’t you? Surely you can do it again, in the interest of protecting yourself and everyone at this base?”

His words were like an icy slap to Gerard’s face. His eyes stung with tears of anger and regret. How dare he use his actions in self-defense against him. Gerard wasn’t a killer. He wasn’t a killer. He wasn’t. He repeated this over and over to himself. Ray was manipulating the memory to his own advantage to give Gerard an opportunity to prove himself.

“Who do your loyalties lie with, Gerard?”

 _Mikey. And Frank. And all the other rebels here,_ Gerard thought bitterly to himself.

“You, sir,” was all he could muster. In the crowd, Frank squeezed his eyes shut and hung his head.

“Then prove it,” Ray said lowly, advancing slowly towards Gerard with his laser gun extended in his hand, prompting Gerard to grab it. He did so with trembling fingers, almost dropping it. The smooth metal felt like fire against his skin. He felt dirty holding it. He wanted to put the gun to his own head and end all of this. But as if on autopilot, he slowly advanced towards Mikey. Still on his knees with his hands clasped behind his back, the younger man looked up at him with wide eyes. Gerard was on the brink of crumbling into dust on the spot.

He looked around, the discomfort of holding the gun in his hand becoming too much for him to bear. Sweat had soaked through his shirt and his breathing came in raspy, short bursts. Ray crossed his arms and looked at him expectantly. Gerard raised the gun to Mikey’s head, the weapon feeling like it weighed a thousand pounds in his hand. He couldn’t keep his hand still from the tremors long enough to position it properly. He thought he heard Frank sniffling in the crowd. God, how he wished he wasn’t here to watch this. He didn’t want Frank to see this despicable thing he had to do.

The face that stared up at Gerard was still set in determination. Mikey’s green eyes seemed to tell Gerard that it was okay. He had already forgiven him for what he was going to do. They also told him that he had to use this moment as a way to further the cause that he had shaped. If he didn’t, his death would be in vain.

“Mikey,” Gerard whispered, his voice breaking. He saw the kid that he had picked up from the desert years ago. Scared, confused, but headstrong. Even then, Mikey had had a strength about him that Gerard admired, envied even. Though he knew he was afraid when he had first brought him to the base, he never did anything to give that part of himself away. Gerard had done what little he could to protect Mikey at the base, get some guards off his back, sneak him some extra food from the kitchen after dinner had been cleared for the night. But he had always known deep down that Mikey needed no protecting. The kid had always done just fine on his own. He didn’t need Gerard to shield him, to save him. If anything, maybe Gerard had needed those little gestures to protect himself from the guilt that he felt constantly. Mikey allowed him to give himself that respite. And now here he was, ready to die at his hand to protect and save others. Gerard knew that he could live a thousand lifetimes and never have a ferocity or purity of character that could hold a candle to Mikey’s.

“It’s okay, Gee,” Mikey whispered, the smallest tear making its way out of the corner of his eye. Saving him yet again. Freeing Gerard from the crushing, suffocating guilt that he knew would come after.

But Gerard couldn’t do it. He stood there for what seemed like hours, frozen, blocking out all the sounds surrounding him, damning every single action that he had ever taken in his life that led him to this moment. Not even the death of his parents out in the desert compared to the agonizing, relentless pain that gripped his heart now.

Then, he was being shoved out of the way by Ray. The man grabbed the laser gun roughly from Gerard’s hand, pressed it against Mikey’s forehead, and pulled the trigger. The sound was like metal scraping against metal in Gerard’s ears. Instantly, Mikey’s body crumpled to the ground. The barrel of the laser gun smoked lightly. A burnt smell filled everyone’s nostrils. Frank wailed in the crowd, not bothering to try to conceal the sound of his anguish. Gerard couldn’t move. He couldn’t breathe as he stared at the puddle of blood that had begun to accumulate around Mikey’s head.

“There is no loyalty here. That’s clear to me now,” Ray said through gritted teeth, tossing the gun to the floor and walking briskly away. As if he had done something as routine and mundane as opening a window.

All Gerard could do was fall to his knees at Mikey’s side, cradling his head in his hands, sobbing and begging for his forgiveness. Over and over and over again.


	18. CHAPTER 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy crap ya'll, I'm so sorry it's been forever since I've updated! I thought quarantine would make me more productive in my writing but I guess that hasn't been the case so far. I hope I haven't lost too many of you <3

#  CHAPTER 17 

Time had halted to a complete standstill as the echoing sounds of Ray’s footsteps on the stone floor receded until nothing but silence remained. Silence and the sound of Gerard sniffling profusely emanated as he continued to cradle Mikey’s head that rested on his knees. His hands were stained with blood that made him nauseous to look at for too long but he didn’t care. He couldn’t leave Mikey. He knew that if he moved even an inch away, the reality of the situation would tear him apart like fingers made of glass shards.

Even Ray’s guards stood around in shock. Their arms hung limply at their sides. Some of them even looked sad as their gazes darted back and forth between Mikey and Dan’s bodies. There was so much blood coating the floor now. Soft whimpers arose from the crowd, from those who had been with Mikey since the beginning and had now just witnessed their leader falling victim to the very system they had sought to destroy with him. It was too much. Some hid their faces behind their hands. Some had expressions of pure anger on their faces. Frank slowly emerged from the crowd, pushing past others tentatively to approach the gruesome scene. He hesitated for a second as he stared at Gerard desperately clinging to Mikey’s body, then slowly lowered himself down next to him. He twisted his hands together, eyebrows furrowed in sadness. His mouth was in a tight line as he fought back tears that threatened to spill over his cheeks, reaching out to rest his hand gently on Mikey’s shoulder.

“You weren’t really going to do it, were you?” he asked Gerard softly, never taking his eyes off Mikey’s face that had now gone slack. His green eyes were vacant, dead, trained on the ceiling that he wasn’t actually seeing. Frank breathed shakily, still foolishly hoping that Mikey would turn his head and smile mischievously. _Can’t get rid of me that easily_ , he would say. The words never came.

Gerard shook his head vehemently. “No,” he whispered. “Never. I would have let Ray kill me before I ever did anything to hurt Mikey.”

Frank nodded, relieved that his worries could be silenced. He knew Gerard would never, but it soothed him to hear Gerard say it out loud. He knew he loved Mikey as much as Frank did. More, even. Not caring that everyone was still staring, Frank placed his hand over Gerard’s and squeezed it gently, hoping it would reassure him even a little bit. Someone in the crowd coughed, but it was merely background static. Everything had changed now.

One of the guards cleared his throat. “Let’s get back to the barracks. Now.” His voice had quivered. It didn’t hold the same weight now as it had before. The guards knew it too.

“Just give us a minute. Please,” Gerard said flatly.

The guard said nothing but turned on his heel and shepherded the rest of the crowd away. Glances were thrown back as Mikey’s companions took one long last look at him. A new fire had sparked in their eyes despite the sadness that clouded them. His death wouldn’t be for nothing. They would make sure of that.

When everyone had cleared out, Frank allowed himself to grab Gerard’s hand fully. He took it in both of his and pressed it to his chest, like he had done that day in the infirmary when he had pleaded with Gerard to join their cause, when Gerard was still unsure. He wasn’t anymore. He lifted his eyes to meet Frank’s that had gone glassy with emotion.

“You know what we need to do now, don’t you?” Frank whispered, his hazel eyes never leaving Gerard’s. Gerard nodded. He had a renewed sense of purpose. The need for vengeance and vindication exploded in his chest fervently.

“Yeah.” He brought Frank’s hands up to his face and kissed his knuckles. His skin was still soft despite the ongoing weeks of work in the mines. “I know.”

Even though his body that still lay across Gerard’s lap had now become lifeless, it almost felt as though Mikey was whispering words of encouragement in their ears.

***  
Truthfully, Gerard had absolutely no idea what to do after he escorted Frank back to the barracks. They had gently placed Dan and Mikey’s bodies outside where they had kissed for the first time, away from the eyes of the guards and Ray. Gerard had found a discarded tarp in a storage closet nearby and covered them with it until a proper burial could take place. Blood still coated the corridor floor, but they would have to wait to deal with cleaning it up.

“What if we don’t succeed? His body will just be lying under there forever,” Frank had said anxiously.

“We will succeed,” Gerard had reassured him, stroking his cheek gently. “We have to, for him. I know we’ll carry this out exactly the way he would have wanted to.”

Frank had seemed a little unsure, but he nodded anyway. He couldn’t stand to think otherwise. They would do Mikey proud, no matter what.

And now what was Gerard supposed to do? Go about his duties like any ordinary day, even after what had just happened? How was he supposed to talk to, let alone look at, Ray after what he had done?

He had to. At least for the day. He and Frank had agreed that their revolt had to take place that night. They couldn’t afford to prolong it now that Ray seemed to be unraveling at a scarily fast pace. Who knew what his unstable mind would lead him to do next if they didn’t act now.

Gerard knew that his best chance at keeping Ray in the dark was to act as normal as possible. No anger, no defiance. Before making his way to Ray’s quarters upstairs, Gerard retreated to his area to compose himself. He walked briskly down the stairs and into his bathroom, splashing his face with ice-cold water to wake up his senses and bring down the puffiness of his eyes. He changed his clothes since the ones he had one now were smeared with Mikey’s blood. He straightened his gun in its holster and made his way up to Ray’s quarters, his hands sweaty and clammy and his heart bashing against his ribcage as he braced himself to come face-to-face with Ray. He gave the wooden door two short raps and waited until he heard Ray’s command to enter.

He pushed the door open and once inside, clasped his hands behind his back as he studied Ray’s demeanor. He was sitting at the large wooden table writing something down tensely, and he scowled when he saw Gerard standing in front of him. It took everything in him to swallow his pride and utter his next words.

“Sir, I wanted to apologize for earlier. It’s not that I was not willing to kill him under your command, it's just been a while since I’ve... killed anyone. But I hope you know it was not because I wanted to defy you. I would have done it if it hadn’t been such a long time.” The words burned his throat as if he had swallowed a whole bottle of rubbing alcohol.

_You have to say this, You don’t really mean any of it. Mikey will forgive you,_ he reminded himself.

Ray looked up at Gerard, his expression still hard but slightly tinged with surprise. He continued to stare at Gerard as if he were trying to see directly into his brain. He probably was. Gerard resisted the urge to shift his weight in discomfort, afraid that if he moved even a little bit then the illusion would be shattered beyond repair. Finally, Ray simply cleared his throat, eyebrows drawn together and his mouth in a tight line. He went back to writing whatever it was he had been working on. Gerard exhaled silently in relief, hoping that he had taken the bait.

“Resume your duties as usual, Gerard. I imagine that my weakling guards are coddling the workers and allowing them some respite from the day’s work due to today’s earlier events. No matter, I will be contacting Better Living Industries today to let them know exactly what happened here today, and they’ll take care of the rest.”

Even though this announcement shouldn’t have surprised him, Gerard felt his nerves tighten in his stomach. If Better Living Industries was going to be getting involved, he and the other rebels would have to act quickly and without even the tiniest margin of error. Their escape and getting a head start on Better Living depended on a fast and efficient escape from the base.

“A wise decision, sir,” Gerard forced himself to respond, nodding his head earnestly.

Ray looked at Gerard thoughtfully again, quietly sizing him up on the spot. He was wondering where exactly his head was at, if he could trust him anymore. If the events that had transpired earlier, Gerard defying his orders, had been a fluke, or a sign of underlying rebellion. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but something had changed. However, he figured that years of servitude and loyalty to him could not have been broken so easily. So he waved him off and sent him on his way. He wasn’t worried; Better Living Industries would be involved soon and there was no running from them.

Without another word, Gerard turned on his heel and exited Ray’s quarters, letting out a shaky breath as he closed the door behind him. He hadn’t even realized he had been holding it in. All he knew was that he had to get to Frank. Though the thought made him feel seasick, he wanted to spend a bit more time with him before the revolt that night in case either - or both - of them didn’t make it out alive.

***

The only useful thing that had come out of Mikey’s senseless execution was that the guards were off their game. As Ray had predicted, they hadn’t even taken the workers back to the mines to finish their day’s work. Everyone was still visibly shaken.

Gerard turned the corner where the barracks were and opened the doors without announcing himself. There was no time to waste. 

He noticed a few of the workers were laying still on their cots, staring up at the ceiling, faces dark with grief. An image of Mikey’s crumpled body covered with a tarp outside flashed through his mind. His heart stuttered and he fought the urge to fall apart like many others had. No, they had to use this opportunity to fuel their fire.

Frank was sitting upright against his single pillow, fists clenched tightly in his lap. He looked up as soon as Gerard entered and sat up taller, his hazel eyes filled with questions.

“I’m taking a worker to help get dinner started,” Gerard announced to the room and pointed over to Frank. “Frank. Come.”

Some of the more surly and mean-spirited guards who hadn’t been as affected by the day's events glared at him suspiciously. It was clear they were trying to keep up the tough no-nonsense facade that their supposedly weaker guard companions couldn’t. Gerard knew better. He knew the foundation was crumbling.

He ignored their fiery looks and motioned for Frank to follow him. Frank rose from his bed and walked over quickly, but not too much so; he didn’t want to blow their cover. He had to look like he was still falling apart too.

With his shoulders slumped, he went over to join Gerard, instinctively going to grab for his hand but jerking it back when he realized they were still in a room full of people. When they had exited the barracks and the door had closed behind them, they began walking briskly towards the direction of the kitchen.

“Is everything okay?” Frank whispered, looking over his shoulder to make sure no one had secretly followed them out in an attempt to expose them.

“Yeah, just follow me,” Gerard responded.

When they got to the kitchen, Gerard led Frank to a back corner that was out of sight from the door. He let his eyes sweep over the room one last time to make sure no one was around before he grabbed Frank’s face in both of his hands and kissed him. Frank melted into the sensation, letting his arms wrap around Gerard’s waist for just a brief minute before Gerard pulled away and looked into his eyes intensely.

“Ray is going to tell Better Living Industries about what happened. I don’t know exactly when, but it won’t be long before they get here. I think we might just be able to avoid them and get our head start tonight before they start tailing us. Do you think you’ll be able to rally everyone during dinner?”

Frank’s heart rate increased as the tingling feeling of excited nerves spread all through his body. This was it. There was no going back now. He reeled from the amount of emotions coursing through him at that moment as the situation became real. Looking at Gerard’s flushed face grounded him back to reality.

“Yeah, I will. I’ve already given the signal to Mikey’s crew. Plus, most of the guards are kind of out of it now.”

The blood pounded in Gerard’s ears, but he couldn’t help the small smile that spread across his face.

“We’re doing this. This is happening. Shit,” he whispered, pulling Frank’s body against his for a tight embrace. The latter buried his head in the crook of Gerard’s neck, his breath quickening.

They pulled apart but kept their faces close, both of them feeling the adrenaline rush and tasting their imminent freedom.

“Let’s go over the plan just one more time. Quick,” Frank breathed, touching his forehead to Gerard’s.

“Okay. But I also just wanted to spend time alone with you, just in case one of us…” He trailed off, unable to utter the last part of his sentence.

Frank raised his fingers to Gerard’s lips, and gave him a sad smile.

“Hey, we’re both going to be fine, okay? We’ve got this. You’re gonna get us access to the armory, we can protect ourselves.”

Gerard didn’t have the heart to tell him that having been at the base for so long, he knew the extent of many of the guards’ cruelty. He knew that there were a few of them who wouldn’t hesitate to strike down as many workers as possible. He also knew there were many guards who wouldn’t even think twice about killing Gerard specifically. He had to keep his thoughts from straying down that dark path. He had to believe that their cause was strong enough to keep them all safe.

He nodded and looked into Frank’s eyes. Mustering up all of the courage he had left, he gave him a smile that Frank returned.

“We’ve got this,” Frank repeated. “We’ll run away and start a new life together,” he said in a joking tone, but he was far from kidding. That was exactly what he wanted. Them and the other rebels against the world.

Gerard couldn’t help but grin. He held Frank’s hand tightly and brought his lips to his forehead.

“You can run away with me anytime you want, Frankie,” he whispered.


	19. CHAPTER 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> READERS/FRIENDS!!! This is the second to last chapter! I'll be writing an epilogue after this.
> 
> I apologize if it feels a bit rushed but I hope you like this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it!

# CHAPTER 18

Frank’s fingers twitched underneath his pillow where he had carefully placed a laser gun that Gerard had given him.

“One of my spares,” he had said as he shoved the weapon into Frank’s hands after they had met for the last time before lights out. Frank’s eyes had widened with nervous excitement, the feel of the glossy and somewhat heavy weapon in his hand making the situation all the more real. It felt foreign in his hands and he stared at it for a long time before Gerard placed his finger under Frank’s chin and lifted his head to meet his eyes.

“Frank, I can’t stress how important it is that you keep that hidden from the guards. Put it under your pillow the second you get back to the barracks and don’t take it out until they’re right where we want them.”

He nodded sharply, shoving the gun into the side of his pants as far down as it could go, keeping it concealed. He tried not to think of what would happen if it accidentally went off or if it was at all visible through the fabric. But his pants had become baggier from weight loss, hiding the shape of the gun, and he had managed to stroll back into the barracks from the kitchen after dinner with his posture straight and normal as possible until the guards dispersed and left them to go to sleep. He tried not to breathe too loudly for fear of attracting them back. Once he was sure the coast was clear, he quickly swiped the gun from his pants and laid it under his pillow. He turned and lay on his side, letting his eyes linger on the empty bed beside him where Mikey should have been sleeping with the rest of them. With the adrenaline coursing through his veins that just barely masked the ache of missing his friend, Frank found it impossible to fall asleep. He drummed his fingers against his leg, over the pickaxe wound that had, quite honestly, put him in this position. 

Eventually, Frank let himself drift off into a state somewhere between unsettled sleep and anxious wakefulness until he heard the creak of the door, signalling that the guards were coming in. His heart rate picked up speed until he could practically taste the vibrations in his throat. He exhaled slowly and silently through his nose. 

This was it.

The guards began murmuring to each other. One of them cleared his throat loudly before grunting out “Time to get up. Now.”

Frank heard the shuffling of his fellow rebels dragging themselves out of bed quickly.

_Now or never._

He let out a low groaning sound, mimicking a noise as if he were in immense pain.

A guard sighed irritably. “What is it now, Frank?”

Frank kept his face buried in his pillow, the hand underneath snaking slowly over the handle of the laser gun. He felt the electricity of fear and excitement shoot up his fingertips.

“It’s just...my leg again...I think it’s acting up,” he mustered in the most pained voice he could. He peered through a slit in the hair that was covering his face and saw that the other workers were all standing around one of the guards. They were in position. “I think I need help getting up.” He moaned in agony once more for good measure.

Making a frustrated noise, the guard began stomping over to him. As the guard got closer, his heart leapt up into his throat again, his focus becoming sharper. He waited until he was just close enough, as far away from the other guard as possible, and then he pulled the gun out from under his pillow in one swift motion, pointing it directly at his stomach.

The guard froze. His hands went up reflexively. The gun shook only a little bit as Frank kept his aim steady. He was surprised at how calm he suddenly felt. The entire room was silent, both guards in a mixed state of shock, confusion, and annoyance.

“What the fuck is this?” he growled. Frank didn’t say a word, just kept his weapon trained on the guard’s stomach. He waited, knowing the other would make the first move.

And then he did. 

Finally snapping out of his shock, the guard reached for his gun. Before he could even wrap his finger around the trigger, Frank lowered his gun just a little bit and shot him in the thigh, in the exact same place where Frank had his own wound from his pickaxe. He would have laughed at the irony if he hadn’t been in momentary shock. The guard let out an agonized yell as he gripped his leg and collapsed to the floor. At the same time that Frank lunged forward to get his gun away from him before he could fire a shot of his own, the other rebels ambushed the second guard. A couple of them tackled him to the ground while he was still frozen in surprise, holding his arms down. Mariah came forward and brought her elbow down on his head hard, knocking him out temporarily. While he was unconscious, she quickly snatched the man’s gun from his own belt and held it over her shoulder triumphantly as Frank peered down at the other guard whose face was white with pain and anger.

“You’re going to let us go,” he breathed out, both guns now trained on the man beneath him. His voice trembled only a little bit. Frank hoped the guard didn’t notice.

“Oh yeah?” he sneered. “And why is that?”

Frank looked to the others quickly, silently awaiting their approval. They nodded their heads quickly.

“We gotta go, Frank,” one of them said.

Without giving himself a second to hesitate, Frank aimed the gun down and shot the guard’s other leg. He yelled out again, swearing profusely and grasping at both of his legs, trying to stop the bleeding in both of them. He wouldn’t be a problem now.

Frank jogged over to the others and tossed one of his guns over to another rebel. The other guard was still knocked out on the floor.

“Come on. We gotta get on with this,” he said as they all disappeared around the door to the corridor and closed it behind them, leaving both injured guards to their own devices.

***

Gerard’s hands were slick with sweat. His mind raced with so many thoughts at once that he couldn’t grasp onto a single one long enough to fully immerse himself in his anxiety and fear. One thought, however, kept bobbing to the surface in the whirlpool that was his head at the moment: if all went according to plan, this would be the last time he would walk this corridor as a prisoner to Better Living Industries, to Ray, to the last few years of his life. It seemed almost too great a thought.

Every step of their escape had an error margin of a strand of hair. They couldn’t afford for any part to swing in Better Living Industries’ favour. As Gerard made his way up to Ray’s quarters, the blood pumping loudly in his ears, he thought of Mikey, how he wanted so badly for them to succeed to honour Mikey’s memory. He thought of Frank, of his determined eyes, and how he so badly, more than anything in the world, wanted to be able to give Frank a better life after this; the life of a free man at the very least. He closed his eyes for the briefest second and imaged them falling asleep in each other’s embrace in some shitty cave out in the middle of the desert. Neither of them had ever liked sleeping in caves much before then; now Gerard thought to himself that he’d sleep in the worst one for the rest of his life if it meant Frank was pressed against him. Maybe the rebel base - if they ever found it - would have comfortable beds, a bed they could share together. He yearned for it.

But now wasn’t the time for daydreams and fantasies. Now was the time that Gerard would take care of subduing Ray while he slept unarmed, while most of the guards were out on morning patrol so no one could come to his rescue. Once Ray was taken care of, he and Frank and the rest of the rebels would gather as many supplies that they could safely carry and get the hell out of dodge. They would give Mikey a proper burial and they would leave all of this misery and bondage behind them.

He tried to quiet his breathing as much as possible as he approached the door to Ray’s bedroom. He was sure that the sound of his heart beating could be heard out in the hallway, giving away his presence. Slowly, he reached one hand out to turn the doorknob and he reached the other into his jacket pocket and touched his fingertips to the cool metal of the handcuffs he would use to keep Ray where he was until they were long gone.

Despite all their planning down to the last detail, they had failed to consider one small detail. One minor thing that Gerard found himself faced with as he charged through his nerves and opened the door as quietly as he possibly could.

A neatly made up bed and no Ray in sight.

***

Frank tried not to let the pure energy and adrenaline coursing through his veins distract him from the mission at hand. He and the others had completed their first phase of the plan; now all that was left was to meet up with Gerard who would take them to the armoury for weapons to protect themselves out in the desert. As things had gone as best as they could have hoped for in the barracks, Frank felt himself sober up from the high of success very quickly when he noticed Gerard was already at the meeting point, pacing around, alternating between wringing his hands and bunching his bright red hair up in fistfuls. Something was wrong.

His face twisted with worry, Frank jogged over to Gerard. He chanced a look over his shoulder in case a guard or two had materialized behind them. He grabbed his hand and studied his face intently.

“What is it? What happened?” Frank urged him.

Gerard’s expression was panicked. “He...He wasn’t there. Ray wasn’t in his room. I have no idea where he is.”

They both looked around nervously, the rest of the rebels beginning to look anxious as well. Then all of a sudden, Gerard’s eyes widened.

“Maybe he went on morning patrol with the guards.”

Frank’s eyebrows furrowed. “Does he usually do that?”

“He’s done it a few times in the past, not so much recently, but it’s the only thing that makes sense. Probably wants to push harder to get new recruits from the desert now that…” He trailed off, the words _Now that Mikey’s dead_ unwilling to roll off his tongue. He felt that familiar pang of loss just thinking them to himself.

As if sensing his thoughts, Frank reached out his hand and grabbed Gerard’s in his, giving it a gentle squeeze.

_I know. I feel it too. I’m right here with you._ Gerard squeezed his hand back.

“Okay, so let’s assume Ray is out with the guards on patrol since it’s the most plausible explanation. Let’s haul ass to the armoury and try to get the hell out of here before they come back. It’s like the universe gave us a head start,” Frank said urgently, hoping he sounded confident enough to get the ball rolling again.

At his words, Gerard perked up a little and nodded firmly. There was no time to waste. And then a lightbulb went off in his head.

“A barricade. We need a barricade between us and the door that they come back in from after patrols. Just in case. It wouldn’t hurt to try and slow them down if they catch us as we’re trying to leave.”

“Shit yeah, that’s a good idea. Okay, uh...half of us go to the armoury, the other half can get back to barracks and get mattresses and shit to block the hallway.”

Frank went one way towards the barracks, grabbing whoever was closest and Gerard turned on his heel swiftly, marching whoever was left to the armoury where he unlocked the door and urged them inside. They all grabbed as much as they could reasonably carry without slowing themselves down. Mariah had gone off to grab some Cylinders from the kitchen. It was a risky job but they knew but they needed those Cylinders and if anyone could do it quickly and without being caught, Mariah could.

The barricade was being put up by the group as quickly as possible when they all heard the sound of the massive front door swinging open. Gerard’s head shot up in a panic as he peered over the top of one of the mattresses that Frank had dragged from the barracks. Sure enough, Ray was at the front of the group of guards that had gone out for patrols that morning. They were somewhat far away but just close enough to see the look of confusion that had begun to dawn over Ray’s face. That confusion quickly turned to anger, then into a smirk of amusement, as if he had caught one of his children digging through the cookie jar before dinner.

_Naughty naughty, child, did you think you could get away with this?_

He motioned to the guards around him. Some of them gave each other nervous glances before beginning to walk forward in unison, trailing behind Ray like a mindless marching band.

Despite the almost crippling combination of pure fear, anger, and determination that filled every crevice of Gerard’s muscles, he stood up defiantly, desperately hoping that the fear portion of the emotional cocktail swirling inside of him didn’t show on his face even in the slightest. They locked eyes. Ray cocked his head and clicked his tongue as if to say _what a shame_. His hand hovered slightly above the holster where his gun rested.

Thick silence blanketed the area surrounding the two groups. The rebels, hidden by a few mattresses and protected merely by the clothes on their backs, Frank and Gerard at their helm, and Ray and his trained guards from Better Living Industries. The stark contrast was sharp - past versus future, regressive versus progressive, passion and heart versus steel and coldness. Ones with everything to lose and ones with everything to gain.

“What is this, Gerard?” It was obvious Ray had tried to sound bored and annoyed but the undertone of fury couldn’t be so well-hidden. They were getting under his skin and he had had enough of being tested. A voice in the back of his mind begged any one of the rebels to try anything so he could shoot them all mercilessly and be done with it. Or hell, he could do it without any provocation. This was his base and he’d be acting in the best interests of Better Living Industries, after all.

“This is it, Ray,” Gerard responded, surprised at how steady his voice sounded,as if it were coming from a more confident stranger’s mouth. “We’re going to walk out of here and you’re going to let us.”

A bark of laughter, shock and rage bubbling just below the surface, ready to erupt and vaporize everything around them.

“Don’t be so naive. Why the hell would I ever let that happen? What’s happened here, anyway? Have I not treated you well, treated you like family, for years?”

Gerard froze, knowing Ray was laying it on thick to guilt him, but finding it difficult to keep the words from penetrating his defenses just a little bit. Frank cast a glance in his direction, trying to keep his worry at bay.

Ray didn’t let up, finding the perfect balance of hurt, betrayal, and dominance in his tone of voice.

“You had nothing before I gave you everything, don’t you remember? The spot as my right-hand man, luxurious quarters all to yourself, food...power. You have power here, Gerard. Are you sure you want to give that up for a life of certain death out in the desert with these low lives? Is that really what you want, when you have all of this?” He stretched his arms out, gesturing around him. _Won’t you miss your cold, steel palace where we made the lives of others miserable, watched them slave away, kept under the thumb of an evil megacorporation and called that happiness?_

“You have everything, Gerard. Don’t throw that away for them, for _him_ ,” Ray finished, his eyes darkening as they glanced in Frank’s direction.

Gerard set his jaw. He had already accepted that being outside the base was going to be more difficult than he could imagine. He had accepted that his life might end out in the unforgiving desert as easily as it could have when he was with his parents. He accepted that they would be wanted fugitives, potentially being chased down by Better Living until they either found the rebel base or perished. And he was okay with that.

“We’re leaving. Whether you let us go quietly or not is up to you,” Gerard responded. Frank held his breath beside him.

There was a beat of silence. Then a bellow of rage ripped from Ray’s throat as he yanked his gun out of his holster and pointed it directly at Frank’s face. Frank froze in shock momentarily but gained his wits back quickly enough to dive down behind the nearest mattress as a shield from Ray’s attack.

Shots of light flew back and forth between the rebels and the Better Living brigade. Gerard kept one corner of his eye trained on Frank throughout the whole ordeal; Frank did the same. They ducked behind the barricade and dodged, occasionally calling out to the others to see if they were okay. A few guards from the other side had gone down with injuries, some more serious than others. There was blood and such terrifying yelling coming from Ray that Frank felt his blood run cold. He knew that much of his anger was directed towards him and he hoped against hope that someone would incapacitate him somehow before he shot a laser through Frank’s forehead.

There was a scream behind them and Frank saw Mariah collapse to the ground, gripping her shoulder and biting her lip in agony.

“Mariah, are you okay?!” Gerard yelled in a panic, still not daring to take his eyes off Ray across the corridor.

“I’m fine, it’s just my shoulder,” Mariah forced out.

Frank’s eyebrows creased in worry. “Put some pressure on it! We’ll be out of here before you know it,” he reassured her, counting on the fact that he was right about that.

Before he even had time to process it, he heard an angry shout of pain from Ray echo across the room.

“I got him!” Gerard yelled, terrified but excited. “I got him in the shoulder.”

“Thank fuck,” Frank whispered under his breath, daring himself to stand up and inspect the state of the hallway.

He noticed a handful of guards had abandoned ship, apparently hiding out somewhere until the action died down. For employees of an evil megacorporation, many of them had proven they didn’t have the stomach for actual danger. The power trip and paycheck was all that really mattered. The few that had remained loyal by Ray’s side had all collapsed, shot in various non-fatal areas but still down for the count and unable to fight properly. Finally, there was Ray, clutching his shoulder and seething. His eyes landed on Frank; they were filled with more venom and hatred than he ever thought existed in a person’s body.

Hyper-focused and knowing that every second counted now, Gerard leapt over the barricade and ran towards Ray who was clutching his shoulder, jaw set and clenched in agony. Gerard saw the gun that had fallen from his holster and raced over, immediately kicking it away from Ray’s grasp. With a sound of frustration, Ray reached towards Gerard’s leg but the latter was too quick for him. He sidestepped and Ray fell onto his wounded shoulder. He let out a yelp of pain, swearing profusely and loudly for all to hear.

Gerard briefly considered shooting Ray again in a non-fatal area to ensure that he stayed down long enough for him and the rebels to get away. But as he stared down at the man panting and hissing in pain and anger, the blood from his injured shoulder beginning to pool around him, he decided against it. There was no need for so much bloodshed. Instead, he motioned for Frank to come over.

“Turn him on his stomach and pin him to the ground so I can get these handcuffs on him,” Gerard said automatically, the sight of all the blood around them reminding him of Mikey. Frank did as he was told and Ray continued to swear at him, his voice noticeably weaker and more defeated. He was enraged but he knew that they had him and the more he yelled and squirmed, the worse the pain in his shoulder became.

“You won’t get away with this. They’ll get you,” Ray hissed as Gerard and Frank restrained the remaining guards. They put up much less of a fight than Ray had. They knew they had been bested and nothing could be done about it except await their punishment from the higher ups. Ray repeatedly called them cowards, disgraces to the corporation that they had sworn to serve.

Frank and Gerard stepped back and took a second to survey the scene in front of them. Blood, smoking mattresses from where gunfire had struck, everything a mess. The other rebels waited behind them impatiently.

“Guys, we have to go,” Mariah said, her voice steady but urgent. “We need as much time to get ahead as we can before Better Living gets here.”

Gerard nodded solemnly. “You guys go get Mikey. I’ll be out in just a second.”

Frank looked at him and gave his hand a squeeze before setting out with the others to go collect Mikey’s remains.

Gerard felt a strange sense of emptiness as he looked around at the place that has caused him so much misery for so long. He had made a home out of the worst situation he could have found himself in and he could finally walk away now. He wouldn’t miss it. He wouldn’t miss being Ray’s punching bag, the backtalk from the guards, the helpless looks on people’s faces when they would find them in the zones and bring them back for an unsatisfying and downright degrading life of labour. He wanted to take it in for just one more second, bid the bitter memories good riddance, and begin the next chapter of his life with Frank. If there was a single thing to be grateful for that this wretched base had given him, it was Frank.

As if summoned by Gerard’s thoughts, Frank peeked back in through the door that led out where they had placed Mikey’s body and were going to start their trek across the desert from.

“Gee, come on,” he said, motioning over to where he and the others were waiting. “It’s time to go.”

Gerard gave a firm nod, turning his back and leaving the wreckage behind him, ignoring Ray’s frantic yelling. The words slid off his back like oil, his eyes fixed on the one thing that mattered the most to him now. He wanted to wrap his arms around Frank’s waist and hold him as close as their bodies could manage right then and there. But he knew it would have to wait.

He took a quick look around at the rebels surrounding him, the brave workers who had decided they’d had enough of chains and broke free, taking Gerard with them. It was him, Frank, and only a handful of others. He knew they would take care of each other.

“Alright guys. Let’s go.”

Suddenly, Frank’s eyes got really big. “Wait. How much time do we have?”

“Not a lot,” Mariah said urgently. “The sooner we leave the better.”

“Gee, if I ask you to go get one last thing for me could you do it in a minute or less?”

“Probably? What is it, Frankie?”

Frank leaned in and whispered in his ear. Gerard chuckled, his expression confused.

“Seriously?”

“I’ll explain later.”

“Yeah I think I know where to get one of those…”

Gerard rushed back into the base in a flash. The rest of the group murmured nervously, throwing anxious glances behind them as if they would turn around and some Better Living goons would be charging toward them already. But the desert stretched out, empty, miles and miles of hot sand calling to them.

It took Gerard just under a minute to make his re-entrance, huffing slightly and holding a small radio in his hands. Frank’s eyes widened and despite the situation, he couldn’t help the small smile that spread across his face.

“Turns out I had this stashed in the closet of my old quarters. Almost forgot about it.”

The group began to walk. Gerard handed the radio over to Mariah to hold for the time being. He and Frank wanted to be there hoisting up Mikey’s tarp-wrapped body until they could find a proper place to bury him. They didn’t want to let him go.

With a decent amount of their own weapons and a few Cylinders for food and water, they left the base behind.

****

They walked for about an hour before deciding to stop and take a few moments to bury Mikey. If they waited any longer, they were afraid the unrelenting heat from the sun would disintegrate him.

Cursing the fact that they hadn’t thought to bring a shovel, all of them got on their hands and knees and buried as deep a hole as they could, hot dry sand flying up into their faces, catching on their eyelashes and sweat-slicked foreheads.

Once they were satisfied with the depth of the hole, Mariah and the rest of the rebels hoisted Mikey’s body up and inside it while Frank and Gerard watched with pained expressions. Then they all stood around and waited, no one wanting to be the first to say goodbye to their dear friend and leader.

Someone finally cleared their throat and took it upon themselves to begin. The rebels all said a few words, fondly remembering how Mikey had kept them all safe and alive before they ended up at Ray’s base. Once they had all spoken, their eyes landed on Frank. He shifted awkwardly and clasped his hands in front of him.

“I didn’t have the privilege of knowing Mikey for very long,” he began, feeling slightly embarrassed at the way his voice cracked on the last word. “But for the time that I did know him...he proved to be someone I could confidently call a friend. An ally. Hell, a hero. He took a bullet for all of us. He was there for me when I was on the constant verge of collapse at the base. My only regret is having only known him for the little amount of time that I did. But even though his presence in my life was short-lived, I know I’ll never forget him.”

Frank sniffled and wiped away a sandy tear that had made its way down his cheek. He stepped back and looked at Gerard, the last one to speak.

Gerard cleared his throat. Frank grabbed his hand and held it reassuringly.

“Mikey was the first person who made me feel like I wasn’t a monster for who I used to be. I remember the first time I reprimanded him and threatened him with solitary and he just looked at me as if to say ‘hey, it’s okay man, I get it.’” Gerard felt a lump begin to form in his throat. 

“I tried to go on easy on him after that, as much as I could without looking suspicious,” he continued with a weak chuckle. “Every now and then, we’d get a few minutes in the day in the kitchen or something, away from the eyes of the guards and Ray, and would just talk about how our day had been. It was always pretty much the same old. But those small moments...really made me feel human again. Made me feel like I was more than just a lackey and an awful person.”

“Mikey saw the best in people and he saw a better future than I could have possibly imagined. A world without Better Living, a world without bases run by power hungry guards and commanders. He was a special person, a _good_ person. He proved that until the end. And now we honour him and his memory by living out the better future he would have wanted for himself and for us.”

They piled the sand they had dug up over his body, patting it down gently. With bowed heads, they gathered up their supplies and continued on towards the horizon. Frank picked up the radio cautiously and began to fiddle with the dial. Gerard looked at him amusedly, wondering what channel he could possibly be trying to gain access to out here.

After a few minutes, a faint voice began to crackle through the speakers. Frank made a small noise and turned the dial a bit more until a much clearer sound came through, the voice of Dr. Death Defying. “Alright children…”

Frank beamed. “Man...never thought I’d ever hear this guy ever again. He really got me through my time alone out here before...well, you know.”

Gerard gave Frank an affectionate look, pulling him close and planting a kiss on his temple. He was so grateful to have him here.

“Well, now you’ve got him and you’ve got me.”

Giving him a coy smile, Frank planted a loving kiss on Gerard’s mouth. They savoured the moment as long as they could before they fell too far behind the rest of the group. Lacing their fingers together, they continued on.

The desert stretched out before them, hot and dry, hopefully leading to a rebel base - if not, then there was a desert’s worth of possibility ahead. With their heads held high and resolve strong, the former occupants of the base trudged on towards whatever would find them.


	20. EPILOGUE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys...I have had SO much fun writing this fic. It was the first one I've written in over a decade and it means so much to me to have had you all here. I hope you all liked this story as much as I had a blast writing it. Thank you for being on this journey with me.
> 
> I have some ideas planned for future fics and I hope I'll see you all there eventually when they get up and running. Your support means everything. I absolutely love this fandom. Again, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for being here <3

# EPILOGUE

Linda sighed disappointedly as she surveyed the damage at the base. Francis stood beside her, his left eyebrow quirked in annoyance at the scene before them.

“Well. Isn’t this something.”

They had gotten there hours after the rebels had fled the base. They were dispatched to arrive as quickly as possible after Ray had spoken with the corporation about the incident with Mikey and Dan. They had expected to arrive to a normal, if slightly tense environment, but nothing like what they were looking at now.

Ray remained handcuffed where the rebels had left him. He had lost significantly more blood from his shoulder wound and was drifting in and out of consciousness, his eyes struggling to remain open. Linda snapped her fingers at some Better Living employees who had come along with them to assess the situation.

“Get him bandaged up quick before he bleeds out completely,” she ordered.

“This is going to be a lot of paperwork,” Francis mumbled, pinching the spot between his eyebrows in exasperation.

They were silent for a while until a faraway expression suddenly dawned over Linda’s face. She touched her finger to her chin thoughtfully, looking momentarily troubled.

“The strange boy who was here…”

If Ray had had any strength left, he would have growled out Frank’s name and cursed his existence.

Francis cocked his eyebrow amusedly. “The one who thought we were his parents?”

Linda chuckled softly and spoke without even realizing. “There _was_ something familiar about him…”

“Now, now, that’s just your mind playing tricks on you. Come on, we need to get started on this mess if we want to have another base with another commander up and running in the next few weeks.”

She shook her head, the clouds clearing from her eyes and, as if finally remembering where she was, cleared her throat.

“Of course, yes. No time to waste here. Seize him. We’ll deal with him at headquarters,” she stated in her bored corporate tone and waved her hand toward Ray.

Francis and Linda looked around, their arms crossed over their chests.

“Is it too much to expect that these base commanders do their jobs properly? Seriously, it isn’t rocket science. How do you just lose every single one of your workers to a _breakout_ , of all things?”

Linda gave a wry laugh. “Maybe it’s about time we take our idea to the higher ups about making these bases maximum security.”

“You may be right.”

As the Better Living employees finished rounding up Ray and the remaining guards, Francis called out the final order of the day.

“Let’s get those helicopters off the ground, stat. We need to survey the area and find them. Bring them in alive.”

“Do you think we’ll actually find them?” Linda whispered.

“We have to. Those are our orders, Linda.”

She scowled. “These rebels though...they have a bad habit of thinking themselves so invincible that they _become_ invincible.”

“And it’s up to us to prove to them how wrong they are,” Francis responded, a cruel grin stretching across his face.

“I hope you’re right.”

Francis walked over to one of the massive corridor windows and stared out thoughtfully. The desert expanded before his eyes, the setting sun on the horizon casting dotted shows of cacti and differently-shaped caves across the sandy brown terrain. Maybe if he looked hard enough, he could see the outline of their pathetic bodies wandering around, practically begging to be taken into Better Living custody again. But he had no such luck.

He had a feeling it was going to be a long, difficult search for the rebels. They had better get started.


End file.
